A Supernatural Battle of Wills
by krissymcmahon
Summary: Sam and Dean call on a pair of sisters who've made a name for themselves as hunters when it appears that they are somehow at the root of the latest case they've found themselves involved in. Introduces original characters Stevie and Maria Hilliard and Bobbie Ann Peterson.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The '69 Mustang cruised down the highway, the raven haired woman behind the wheel anything but a pageant queen. Stevie Hilliard's life had taken a course no one could have expected.

She had grown up in the deep South of Savannah, Georgia where many a tourist dollar was spent on ghost tours and the like, though she'd never paid much thought to the supernatural, something that quickly changed after her eighteenth birthday.

It was then that she lost her parents, her boyfriend, and her aunt and uncle, her entire life destroyed in an instant. The only surviving member of her family, her younger sister, Maria, who had the good fortune of being invited to a slumber party at the last minute. Perhaps some would say it wasn't good fortune though, Stevie had demanded and was awarded custody of the thirteen-year-old sister, ultimately changing her life as well.

From there they had travelled around without real purpose. It had started small, just research trying to understand what she had seen that night, trying to make sense of the disjointed memories. It was a couple of years later that she finally realized that there was more to her experience than she could have imagined.

Her family wasn't the first to destroyed by a man with solid black eyes, demons were real. And demons weren't the only one, vampires, witches and werewolves were all among what seemed to be an unending list of real life monsters. The most exciting discovery had been the most recent, there were people, hunters, who served the unsuspecting world by ridding it of as many of these horrible creatures as possible.

It was the day of her twentieth birthday that Stevie began training to be like them, to be a hunter, for a life that no one deserved. She didn't regret it once, it was for the greater good, to protect anyone else from suffering through what she has, from the things that go bump in the night. It was a hard life, but it was the life she chose.

Slowly she began to train her sister as well, though reluctant at first, as she didn't want Maria to have this life. In the beginning the girl was always left with neighbors while Stevie was on hunts, making up lame excuses to account for her injuries. However, as time wore on, with no end in sight for the sadistic creatures, and an Apocalypse looming, Stevie felt she had no choice.

For Maria's sixteenth birthday Stevie bought her a crossbow, a la the Arrow style, and taught her how to use it. Maria loved it, and just like the hooded hero, she had taken it much further over the years, crafting specialty arrows designed to stop just about any creature they'd came up against. Stevie couldn't have been prouder, even if she'd tried so hard to prevent her sister from falling into the trap of hunting. Ultimately, it had been Maria's choice, and together they'd saved hundreds of people.

Together, Stevie and Maria had traveled to every single state in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. They'd even done a few jobs in Canada and Mexico as well, though there was enough work in the continental United States to keep them busy. Luckily for them, their parents had made sure that they would be well taken care of should anything ever happen to them, and the girls ended up on their own. The family house had been fully paid off and due to the investments their father had made, the sisters weren't lacking in cash. It was something that had made life on the road much easier than the average hunter.

They'd learned a lot over the years they'd lived this life, and on more than one occasion, had found themselves compared to another sibling hunting duo, Sam and Dean Winchester. Now, after eight years in the business, Stevie and Maria were about to work their first case with the infamous brothers.

The Winchesters were legendary in their line of work, and if the rumors were true, the pair was a force to be reckoned with. However, as chance would have it they'd never once managed to cross paths with them, despite having run through the same circle of hunters for years. Bobby Singer, a man that Stevie had long admired, was said to be a surrogate father to the boys, and had given his life on more than one occasion to help the brothers.

Castiel, the Angel, because where there were demons, there must be Angels, had helped them out once or twice, and it was widely known that he was the angel on the Winchester's shoulders. Despite meeting several others, not once in eight years had they met face to face. However, in just a few hours, that would change. Stevie was both excited and nervous, meeting a legend either went one of two ways, they either lived up to the hype, or they let you down. Hopefully they fell into the former.

This was one of the times she wished that Maria hadn't gotten her own car, and that they still rode together. They'd learned a little while back that not all mysteries fell into the supernatural domain, and instead just the depravity that could be humankind. When Maria had originally suggested that they could cover more ground by splitting up to check out the details, Stevie had balked at the idea. Truth be told she still wasn't fond of it, but Maria had a mind of her own and wasn't afraid to use it. They very rarely fought with each other, always managing to come together when it mattered to take out whatever being needed destroyed. Today they were each coming from a different town and would meet each other in Lebanon, Kansas. It was a destination that Stevie would arrive at a couple of hours earlier than her sister, however she had no plans of walking into that bunker alone.

Even before she hit the city limits, the signs started, declaring Lebanon the geographical center of the contiguous United States. Something that seemed to be attracting significantly less attention than the world's largest ball of twine that could be seen only 30 or so miles further up the road. A small smirk creased her lips as she thought of how much more exciting it would be for them to realize exactly what lurked in their backyard. But most people didn't want to believe that demons and evil could possibly be real, even if they had no problems looking to the gods and their angels in times of need. Yet, it was the Winchesters and Hilliards of the world that fought the unseen battles, the battles that really mattered, even if there wasn't anybody to thank them for it, it did make it easier for them to sleep at night.

It was a blink and you'd miss it sort of town, there wasn't much to look at, it housed a single gas station and one small family restaurant squeezed in between a county sheriff's office and the local post office. Having driven more miles without stopping than she would have liked, Stevie found her way into the Family House and took a seat in one of the two narrow booths along the wall. She found herself more than a little surprised when the waitress came over to hand her not only a menu, but a glass of water and a place mat. She would have thought she'd been taken back in time, that is if the calendar behind the cash register wasn't proudly displaying the current year.

What the restaurant lacked in size, it made up for spirit. The décor featured pictures of families that seemed to go back at least 50 years or so on the wall, with several faces popping up often. Through the pictures it was easy to see that Coke had been the drink of choice, while overalls appeared to be the choice item of clothing across the decades.

Looking over the menu, a laminated two sided sheet of paper with clip art for pictures, it didn't take long to narrow down the few choices and Stevie decided to settle for the 'World Famous Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe', a staple of any respectable small town diner. When the waitress, who she was quite sure was also the owner brought her plate over, piled high with fries and a burger the size of a Frisbee, she offered up a thanks.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The waitress asked, though Stevie was quite sure that was evident by her accent alone.

"No, ma'am," She replied.

The waitress took a seat on the bench opposite of her in the booth. "I'm Barbara Ann Peterson, but folks around here just call me Bobbie."

Slightly amused, Stevie reached her hand across the table, "Stevie Hilliard."

This garnered a laugh from Bobbie, "Well, I'll be. It's not every day you find two ladies going by a boy's name, now is it?"

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, and unsure if she should try to eat with Bobbie was sitting with her, Stevie shrugged slightly. "I don't know, today just about anything is possible."

She eyed her burger and looked back up at Bobbie, who told her to go ahead and eat, to not mind her, then followed it up by asking her what she was doing in town.

"I'm meeting up with my sister," She stated after taking the first bite, the juice from the burger hitting her chin causing her to reach for a napkin, "We're just passing through really."

She took another bite of the burger, and a wave of endorphins flooded her body, it possibly one of the best bacon cheeseburgers she'd ever eaten. Having not noticed anyone else had come through the door, she was surprised to find herself in the shadow of a giant, and one who apparently knew Bobbie quite well.

"Hey, Bobbie, think you could get me one of those bacon cheeseburgers to go? And a grilled chicken salad while you're at it?" The man asked, his voice as smooth as silk.

Stevie almost choked when Bobbie replied, "Sure thing, Sam. I'll even throw in an extra piece of pecan pie for your brother." There was an adorable dimpled smile that could probable melt the heart of an iceberg and Stevie could only look at him with dumbfounded surprise. She'd obviously never thought she'd run into one of the Winchesters in the local eatery, though thinking about it she imagined they had to eat too.

"Why don't you keep Stevie here company while I get that for you? She's waiting on her sister," Bobbie explained in that typical small town fashion where everyone seemed to know everything as she bustled towards the kitchen.

Sam turned to face the woman, a little intrigued and amused at the expression on her face. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Stevie. I've heard some pretty great things about you."

Despite not being one to stumble over a man, she found being in his presence a little unsettling. "You're nothing like I pictured."

Sam gave a hearty laugh at that, his shaggy brown hair fell across into his eyes before he shook it back, his grin was infectious. "I could say the same thing about you. Pretty girl with a boy's name? Not exactly what you would expect." He eyed her burger and pile of fries, again amused by the bucking of stereotyping.

She wiped at her chin again and arched a brow. "What," She asked, "Never seen a woman eat before?" Stevie studied him again and nearly snorted, "No, the salad is for you and you're coveting my fries." She pushed the plate toward him slightly, "Go ahead, I'm all about sharing."

Sam reached over and snagged a fry off her plate popping it into his mouth, mirroring the smirk that she wore. "For the record, I happen to like salad sometimes, and it does help with my boyish figure," He teased playfully, grinning at the eruption of laughter from the girl opposite him.

He watched her grab a bottle of ketchup, squirting it out on her plate as an invitation for him to continue eating her fries, so he did. "Where is your sister?" He questioned, his eyes moving over her and trying to associate the woman in front of him with the girl he'd heard so much about.

Stevie caught wind of his gaze and smirked, "If you say you thought I'd be taller, I will hurt you."

It wasn't long before Bobbie had brought the package of food over to Sam, he stood up and paid hastily. He made a quick offer to escort Stevie to the bunker with him and have Maria meet them there, but she declined. She did still have half a burger to eat, and there was no way she was going into that bunker without Maria.

By no means was Stevie scared of the brothers, but she knew she worked best with Maria at her side and now was no exception. Even if Dean Winchester was only half as handsome as his brother Sam, she was sure they would both be familiar with getting their way with the fairer gender. Of course, they hadn't met the Hilliards, not yet anyway. This joint venture they were about to undertake would call for all hands on deck, and considering the legends that surrounded the brothers, Stevie had no doubt that they were about to see just how much they could gain from teaming up with a couple of southern girls.


	2. Chapter 2

Driving had become almost a sport to the younger Hilliard. Maria loved the feel of the engine's purr as she tore down the long highway, no other cars in sight. Stevie hadn't wanted her to break off, to get her own car, but truthfully it made the hunt far easier. And if it was one thing that Maria knew how to do, it was get her way by debating every angle until her opponent could find no reason to deny her.

Unlike her sister, who cherished her decades old Mustang, Maria had opted for a brand new, custom ordered Dodge Challenger. The car was a masterpiece, the clear black finish shimmered and sparkled when the sun hit it, and today was no exception. Maria let the car roar, blowing through every speed zone in sight. Her sister wasn't expecting her in town for a few more hours, but that was wasted time as far as she was concerned.

The sun hadn't even started to set when she rolled into the one horse town, it came as a surprise that a place so small could house the infamous Winchesters. Maria would have assumed they'd have found a place a little easier to blend in. A place where nobody would ever have a chance to learn their names, but she supposed it wasn't her call and she wasn't one to judge.

Maria caught sight of her sister's Mustang parked outside the small diner, and she pulled in beside it. Cutting the engine, she made it to the entrance of the restaurant in a matter of seconds. With one hand she pulled the glass door open, immediately causing the bells hanging from the doorframe to jingle.

Once inside she immediately spotted Stevie in a narrow booth against the far wall, eating a piece of pie while gulping down what Maria could only assume was Diet Coke. Her sister seemed to live by that stuff, even considering the innumerable times Maria had reminded her it would kill her quicker than whiskey.

Sliding into the booth opposite her sister, she laughed at the look Stevie gave her, knowing that had her mouth not been full, Stevie would have started the conversation by bitching at her for breaking every speed limit between there and St. Louis.

She tossed an easy grin, "Don't worry, 'Vie, my driving record is still spotless, no tickets yet," she rapped her knuckles on the table top to give the obligatory knock on wood.

Stevie rolled her eyes at her younger sister, "Not sure if that counts as wood, you may want to tap them against your head to be sure."

"Hi there, I'm Bobbie and you must be Maria. How about a burger and fries for you?" Bobbie asked as she sidled up to the table, picking up Stevie's glass to refill it. "You can ask your sister here; they really are the best."

Maria raised her eyebrows at her sister, who only gave her a sheepish grin before nodding at Bobbie and asking her for extra mayonnaise as well. Once Bobbie was out of earshot, Maria shook her head at her sister, "You told her about us?"

Stevie put her hands up in defeat, "She just sat down here and started talking, then Sam of all people came in and I don't know what the hell happened, but now I know how they get away with half the shit they do. Jesus, Maria, he's a walking billboard for sex."

Maria wasn't sure what shocked her the most, the fact that her sister had already met Sam Winchester or that she was obviously in awe of his looks, something that was actually rather rare. Especially when it came down to her sister, the same sister that could always manage to point out a flaw in any man that had dared to ask her out. Maria could even distinctly remember one time that Stevie turned down an invitation for coffee simply because the guy had one eye that was a touch darker than the other. For her sister, avoiding relationships was more than just a hobby, but a way of life.

"So what gives? I knew you were jazzed about meeting the brothers of legend, but you're already talking sex," Maria asked, failing at an attempt to cover her smirk as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. She peeled off her leather jacket, having warmed up rather quickly and laid it beside her, noticing that Stevie had already done the same.

Stevie rolled her eyes again, "I'm not talking about having it, I'm just saying if I was going to go jumping into bed with anyone, he'd be at the top of the list. You just wait, you'll see," She said, shaking her head at her sister's implications.

"And I'm not having sex with anyone, just for the record."

Maria tutted at her, "Me thinks my sister doth protest too much."

Just as Stevie was about to reply, Bobbie made her way back to the table, juggling not only Stevie's refilled glass, but Maria's food and a glass of Sprite. "Stevie here told me you'd be wanting a Sprite when you got here, I hope that's was right. If not, I can get you something else."

Maria shook her head, letting her know that it was fine. It wasn't long before she'd finished off her plate and she was ready to go. Stevie had already met one half of the super duo, and now she was ready to check out the guy that made her sister actually act like a woman. More importantly Maria was ready for the next hunt, a hunt that would, by all accounts, make a serious dent in the underworld of which they lived.


	3. Chapter 3

Following the directions that Sam had given her, Stevie pulled up to the large garage door with Maria right behind her. As per his instructions, she sent a quick text to let him know that they had arrived and within minutes the huge door began to open and she idled inside, her eyes nearly bugging out as she saw the different classic cars stored there. She pulled into an open place with Maria pulling in beside her. The two women got out of their cars and looked around before Stevie heard the now familiar voice. "You made it," Sam said as he walked out to meet the two, with Dean on his heels. He was never one to let Sam get the upper hand when dealing with beautiful women and Sam had told him that Stevie looked more like she belonged in a magazine than on a demon hunt.

Pushing ahead of his brother, Dean gave the girls his signature smile. "Hey, I'm Dean." His eyes moved over their cars and he couldn't decide which one he wanted to check out first. "Damn, you girls know how to pick out cars," he said as he pulled his bottom lip through his teeth, his heart winning out and moving over to check out Stevie's ride. He looked at her, "Can I pop the hood?" She nodded, always happy to show off her car while Maria stood next to Sam, shaking her head with a sigh. "We may never see her again." Sam chuckled at that, nodded, "Him either. He's a car whore."

"Fuck you, Sammy," Dean said as he lifted the cherry red hood. "Damn," he swore followed by a low whistle, "This is not the 302 this car came with." Stevie practically beamed with pride remarking, "No, it's a 427 that I had bored out to a 496. It's pretty sweet." Like a kid in a candy store, he grinned at her, "Can I take a test drive?" Sam walked up to him, slapping him on the back, "Maybe later, Speed Racer, but right now we really need to talk business. Let's head inside and show the girls what we've got so far." With a bit of a pout that caused Maria to release a slight giggle, Dean lowered the hood on the car, whispering to Stevie, "Later."

Once inside the bunker, the girls found themselves a little bit in awe of the amount of material that could be found. Looking over the shelves, Maria pulled out several books, looking at them, shocked to find so much data on creatures she'd still never even heard of. "I can't believe this," she said to Stevie, who was already looking over the pages that Sam and Dean had scattered about the table. Picking up a few of the pages, glancing over them, she put them back down, her brows furrowed as she looked to the boys. "This just looks like run of the mill black eyed demon, what's the DEFCON level reaction for?"

At this, Sam's eyes brightened as he moved over beside her, pulling a chair out for her and then sitting in the one beside it. "That's what we thought, too, at first," he said, pulling a couple of different papers out of the stacks and laying them side by side. "But look at this pattern. It goes back years." Stevie was looking over the notes, the police reports when Maria moved closer, looking over her shoulder. "8 years to be exact," Dean added, then followed up with, "It all goes back to one date, 8 years ago. Does the date November 17th ring a bell?"

"Stevie," Maria whispered, her eyes now pouring over the pages on the table, picking them up and examining every detail as she fell into a chair at the end of the table. Stevie was unable to speak for a moment, her mind automatically taken back in time to that night when she had watched as the black eyed man had slaughtered her family, leaving her alive for a reason she'd never known. He'd never even come close to hurting her though she'd tried her best to fight him off only to have him pin her against a wall with only so much as a glance. She watched in horror as one by one her family was taken from her, the demon leaving her boyfriend for last. It was as Brian took his last breath that the demon finally spoke, looking at Stevie as he let his hold on her loose causing her to slump to the ground. "He's not the one for you."

She fought back tears that she hadn't shed in a long time, whispering the words the demon had said to her all those years ago, something she'd never shared with anyone. Sam looked at her, taking in her visibly shaken form and placing a hand on her shoulder while he glared at Dean. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, Dean doesn't have a lot of tact," he asked, true concern in his eyes. Stevie shook her head as if she was trying to clear the cobwebs away from the memories, trying to see them in a new light, but still all she could see was the demon and his words ringing in her ears. "He said," she started, looking over to Maria, who she knew would most likely not be happy to have been kept in the dark all these years, her voice a little raspy from the emotion she was feeling in that moment. "He said, 'He's not the one for you.'" She swallowed, shaking her head once more, "I always thought he was just being sadistic, but..." she trailed off for a second, sweeping her hand across the table at all of the evidence, "maybe he was simply telling the truth. Maybe someone has a plan for me that I don't think I'm going to like very much."

Dean moved forward, taking a seat opposite Stevie, no apologies for his lack of tact to be found, "Look, as someone who has definitely had their fair share of having their life dictated to them, you don't have to give in to it. You can fight it. You fight hard, and when you have nothing left, you be damned grateful that you've got family behind you that will carry you that extra mile." He looked over to Maria and let out a heavy sigh, "Thing is, it's not just November 17th that stands out." He nodded at the younger woman, "September 1st mean something to you?"

Maria's eyes widened, her jaw falling open just slightly, "What?" She shook her head, "But why?" Stevie looked over at her, her own eyes as full of questions. "But that would mean..." her words trailed off yet again, but she slowly found her voice once more, "that it wasn't good fortune that you had not been there. It was coincidence. You were never meant to be harmed." Removing his hand from her shoulder and picking up a paper where he'd worked out the chronology of the events that had led to this meeting. "It's happened over years. And nothing we've really picked up on until last week where we were checking out what we thought was a nest of vampires. It wasn't vampires, but look at this," he showed Stevie, and Maria moved her chair closer so she could see as well. "There's been a random act of violence on those dates for 8 years, scattered all over the states, but it was almost as if someone or something was trying to honor those dates."

Maria picked up one of the police reports from one of the days in question, "By slaughtering a herd of cows?" She wasn't sure what she thought of this theory just yet, but she couldn't quite see how other than the dates in question it linked her and Stevie. Dean moved his eyes over to Maria, "They're sacrifices. Cows, pigs, lambs... all slaughtered. They even threw in a virgin or two, but it all points to revolving around you two."

Stevie's back bristled and she shot a glare at Dean, "So what? You think we're demons under cover? Killing our besties to make sure we don't get outed?" Once more, Sam touched her shoulder, but she shook it off. "Stevie, that's not what he's saying. But they are connected to you and Maria," he said with a lowered voice. He continued, "Think about it, something is trying to honor you in their own way. What we need to find out is why. And then we can find a way to stop it."

Maria held up a hand for a moment, then turned attention on Sam and then looked directly at Dean, her eyes narrowed, "So because Stevie's birthday is right around the corner, why not use us as bait to find out what you're up against, right?" Giving her his patented 'Shit Happens' look, he held his hands out as he spoke, "You're in the business, you going to tell me you've never used anyone as bait before? At least we're letting you know before doing it."

"I don't fucking believe it," Stevie exclaimed as she stood up, tossing the papers in her hands onto the table. She ran her hand through her hair, starting to pace alongside of the table. "And what exactly is your plan to use us as bait? Want to place us on an altar? See if they show up at our feet," she grumbled, her mind still trying to wrap around the fact that somehow she'd spent the last 8 years studying the supernatural yet never picked up on the fact that her family was somehow at the center of something significant.

"Actually," Dean started, no apology in his voice. "You're the one that we need to put out there. It's your birthday, not hers." Maria turned her glare on Dean, but before she could speak, Sam huffed, "Dean! Try to have a little bit of ..." His words trailed off, and Maria piped up, "Decency? Humanity? Common fucking sense?" Stevie shot her sister a bit of a smirk, "I think that's asking just a bit much, little sister."

Grabbing control of her anger, Stevie sat back down in her chair, her eyes moving between Sam and Dean, landing finally on Sam, "I was actually looking forward to meeting you. I really thought you wanted to work with us because you knew we were at the top of our game. But you just brought us here to use." She looked at Maria and then back at Sam. "I'm sorry, but that's not how we work."

Maria nodded, agreeing with her sister, "We're not demon bait. Sorry, but we ain't got time for that." Stevie went to stand up, but Sam placed a firm hand on her thigh, garnering a hard glare from Stevie before he spoke, "Don't. Just wait, please." He gave her his best heart melting smile, getting her to rest back in her chair, "We didn't ask you here to simply use you as bait. We need your help. This thing, whatever it is, is bigger than all of us." He was about to continue when they were suddenly joined by Castiel, effectively cutting him off.

"Good," he stated upon seeing Stevie and Maria, "You're here." The girls both spoke their hellos, but even Castiel could sense the tension in the room. His next glance was to Dean, whom he was certain had somehow upset the Hilliards. When he asked why he was looking at him, Castiel deadpanned, "Because, Dean, your way with women often needs work." Unable to help himself, Sam let out a hearty laugh, the comment even managing to bring smiles to both girls. Still standing, he addressed all four, "Have you ever wondered how all of you are warriors among hunters, yet in all these years you've never once crossed paths?"

"We've never had reason to before," Dean spoke, gaining him more looks from both Stevie and Maria who were still somewhat incensed by his attempt at using them. "No, we've made sure of that," Castiel answered as Sam's brow furrowed. "You made sure of it?" he asked, "What do you mean you made sure of it? Who's we?" Stevie added, "And why did you do it?"

Castiel sighed, sometimes it was hard making humans understand the dealings of Heaven and Hell, but it was necessary to try. He took a moment and then went forward. "We didn't know what was going to happen when you met. Some believed the four of you together would be unstoppable and that was something that we couldn't let happen. No humans should ever have that kind of power. And, of course, Hell believes that you will create the second coming, something guardians of Hell wouldn't allow yet either. But the signs are there, and they are getting stronger. Hell is about to make a move on you and we can't let that happen."

Maria was the first to speak, "Wait a minute, you're saying that somehow the four of us are linked? And that we're all going to somehow create the second coming of God?" This was beyond even her own mental capacity, but she'd learned to not doubt Castiel in most instances, though this one was stretching it. He shook his head, "No, Maria. Not all of you. Two of you. No one is sure which two, and that is why we must trap these demons leaving sacrifices for you so hopefully we can figure it out." Stevie rolled her eyes, something she wasn't sure she'd ever done to Castiel, but there was a first time for everything. "Unless we're talking about another immaculate conception, there is no problem here. I'm quite sure we can all refrain from making babies with each other."

Again Castiel shook his head, "You won't have a choice." Maria snorted, "I always have a choice." Dean nodded in response, "I'm quite capable of picking up my own women." This caused both women to snort and Sam to sigh. "Cas, I don't understand. If we're supposed to be the creators for the second coming, why would the angels fight that? And why would the demons want it? It doesn't make sense."

Stevie nodded, "I agree, and how do you know this?"

"There were scrolls in Heaven that spoke of you, and to be honest even I didn't put the four of you together at first. But according to what we've been able to find out, Hell has their own research and Crowley, of course, doesn't want you to succeed. He seems to like being the King of Hell." He had tried to explain, then realized that none of them had fully grasped the situation. "Let me see if I can break it down. Some of the angels believe the second coming is of Heavenly nature. Hell believes the second coming will be the rebirth of Lucifer on Earth."

"You have got to be kidding me," Stevie almost whined. "You're saying that either Maria or I are destined to become the mother of God or Satan? That's way beyond messed up." Dean piped up, "Haven't we been down this road before? You know? Me the vessel for Michael, Sam the vessel for Lucifer? The 66 seals? Us kicking ass and sending Lucifer back to the cage? How in the hell has this been planned longer than that?" It was Sam that spoke up, his voice quiet, but finally understanding, "It's a failsafe. In case we managed to stop the Apocalypse." Castiel nodded, and Dean growled, "So basically we won the battle, but they're still going to drag us into their war? No. No way. Not happening. I thought we were done with that."

"Not to beat a dead horse, but like Stevie said, wouldn't the easy way out be to just not to be together? No child? No second coming." Maria offered, causing Castiel to shake his head. "It's not going to work like that. You will come together. The angels have cupids and the demons have sirens," he told them going on to explain that a siren could use her powers to bring two people together to feed off of them, not just able to bring a man to her. And while the four still couldn't understand why Castiel would want them together, he explained it was the only way to find out once and for all which side their union would fall on. "And for the record, I don't believe you're going to create a child, but simply a bond that will be unbreakable. You'll do great things, either in Heaven's name or in that of Hell. But the others, they all believe the second coming will be a child. But unless this child will be able to wield powers at birth, I believe they are all wrong."

Sam looked at Castiel with a show of relief. "Man, you really had us going there for a minute, making us think we're the parents of the devil incarnate. It's a no brainer, we'll unite to get rid of the demons, send them all back to Hell where they belong." Stevie laughed with relief as well, "Cas, Maria and I have done nothing but put these assholes away, how could you even be worried?" Castiel looked down for a moment, saying nothing, then looked at all of them, his eyes somber, "Because Metatron had taken it upon himself to change the rules before he was locked in the dungeons of Heaven, and whichever side wins, takes control."


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel had been called away after dropping the bombshell on the two pairs of siblings, promising to return to answer their questions. No one spoke for a long time, each stuck in their own thoughts of what this meant for each of them and trying to figure out how they could change destiny one more time. Sam and Dean, who had both been pawns of Heaven and Hell at one time or another, didn't relish any chance of once more being controlled by an outside force. And Stevie, who had at one time been possessed by a demon, remembered all too well what it felt like to be stuck in your own body with no control of what you did or said. It was your voice and your body, but you could only watch as blood was spilled by your hands. Maria, the most fortunate in this regard, had racked up her share of bumps, bruises and broken bones, but had never been possessed. She could only contemplate what it would be like from the way Stevie had described it, and she knew that it wasn't something that she wanted to find out about first hand.

Maria was the first to break the silence, her voice low as if to speak at her normal tone would upset the balance, "If God's plan was to give us free will, he kinda dropped the ball here." All three looked at her, but in some way, they were all thinking it. "God left this world a long time ago," Dean spoke, his voice no louder than Maria's had been. "He left this place and left us in charge of saving it, holding off Hell, protecting Heaven. Why? How did we get so fucking special?" The question, though rhetorical, set all of their minds to thinking once again. How did they all end up here, together?

Stevie got up and took a walk in the direction of the garage, her car always a place where she could gain peace when the world seemed to be spiraling out of control. The boys watched her go, Sam about to stand to go after her when Maria shook her head, "Let her go. She'll be back. She has her own way of dealing with things. You'll only interrupt her ability to process." Slumping back in his chair, he sighed heavily, once more the weight of the world on his shoulders, gone the prospect of one day finding some chance at what would be a normal life, a hope that he tried to hold onto, but his dream dimmed a little more as each year rolled by with another battle thrown in their path.

The clock on the wall ticked away the hours, it's sound getting louder until it felt as if a sledgehammer was being struck against a wall of steel, pounding into the heads of the three left sitting at the table, waiting for an angel who seemed to have forgotten them and his promise to return with answers to questions they weren't even sure they knew to ask. Needing a break from the silence himself, Sam stood up, disregarding Maria's earlier suggestion of giving Stevie space, and finding himself in the passenger seat of her car. "Nice car," he said, a rather pathetic attempt to start a conversation after what they'd just learned. "Yep," Stevie replied, her usual sparkle at the mention of her baby nowhere to be found.

Her hands were gripped tight on the steering wheel, her knuckles white from the pressure she exerted, now not even sure she could remove her fingers if she tried. She'd come up against so many different types of demons, she'd vanquished vampires and destroyed witches, never once thinking it had all been a plan that she was unaware of. Someone else had been dictating her life, and she wasn't sure she could accept that, or the fact that it would happen on an ever bigger battlefield that lay up ahead. Either way, it seemed her life would be left up to that of good or evil, and she couldn't begin to wrap her head around that, unsure if she would ever be able to.

Sam could feel the heaviness of the weight she was taking on, he could see the grip she held so tight as if she were trying to steer her way out of this disaster they'd found themselves in, but he was afraid there wasn't a car in the world that could help them escape the inevitable. Slowly, as not to startle her, though he wasn't sure if he would, Sam reached his hand over, covering her right one as he began to massage it gently, then softly plied her fingers from the wheel. He repeated this with her left hand as well, until the blood seemed to flow through her veins once more, the white of her knuckles slowly subsiding to a natural tone.

"I know this is overwhelming," he spoke softly, "but I promise Dean and I have been through worse. We've both spent time in Hell, him at the beck and call of Alastair and me locked in a cage with a very pissed off Lucifer. I'm not saying whatever lies ahead is going to be a walk in the park, but I do believe that we will make it through it."

Stevie closed her eyes, unable to look at Sam as she spoke, her thoughts from the diner ricocheting around in her mind. She took a deep breath, her voice a little shaky, very unlike her, but she'd never been in a position like she was today. "When I met you today, I was attracted. It was as if you had a way of speaking to me without words," she said then paused, trying to put her thoughts into place so that he could fully grasp what she was saying. "My first words to my sister were about you and sex, and you have to understand that is not who I am. I've dedicated my life to this mission, to saving people and ridding the world of all things evil. I don't feel, I don't let myself. I can't." She was starting to tremble all over, her mind attempting to break apart as she continued, "In this life, there is only the love of family, relationships only slow you down, make you falter and get you killed."

Sam had listened to her speak and understood immediately as he, too, had found an immediate attraction to Stevie, though he had chalked it up to her beauty and the realization that there was a woman out there that truly understood his life, one that he wouldn't have to lie to. Now, like Stevie, he began to question those feelings. "You think it wasn't us, that what we were feeling wasn't true, but instead pressed upon us by someone else?" he asked.

She nodded, unsure of herself or anything she felt at the moment other than the fear she felt coursing through her body. And even though she didn't trust what she was feeling, when Sam took her hand in his, squeezing it gently, she didn't pull away. "We don't give in," he said softly, "no matter how much we think it's right, we don't give in."


	5. Chapter 5

"It's them," Dean almost growled, not in anger at his brother or her sister, but in the facts that had led them to this place. His eyes moved over to meet Maria's, a connection sparking, though not one that appeared to be of any romantic involvement. "As if Sam hasn't been through enough, Jess... Madison... Hell..."

Maria cut her eyes at him, though she felt the connection as well, she had not resigned her feelings just yet. He was too rough around the edges for her liking, her voice level as she spoke, "Stevie had to watch as her childhood sweetheart was brutally murdered in front of her. She's not even so much as entertained the thought of a one night stand since then, afraid that she would lead some unsuspecting date to a horrifying death. Today, your brother made her feel, and right now? She's out there coming to grips with the fact that even if it were real, it would be her nightmare all over again. Sam might not die, but he'd probably wish he would."

"Where the hell is Cas," Dean's rough voice grumbled one more time. He picked up the papers laid out before them, somehow wishing they could go back to where it seemed like a run of the mill hunt, a little more complicated as it required the help of the Hilliard sisters, but something easily handled all the same. But once more their lives were thrown into chaos, Heaven and Hell using them as their own pawns, and he, for one, was sick of it. Reaching his arm out across the table, he angrily swept it across sending all the work, the papers, the reports flying around them to land on the floor.

"Well, that was productive," Maria sighed, looking around at the scattered papers. "Now, someone has to pick all that up, and it's not going to be me."

Dean looked at her, his expression almost outrageous at her seeming lack of emotion about the situation they'd found themselves in. He glared, "I don't know about you, but I'm not at all happy about this. That's my little brother out there that's been bewitched by some asshole who thinks he's going to bring about another damn Apocalypse. It may not bother you that your sister is obviously a part of it, but Sammy and I? We're family, and family doesn't give up or accept a shitty fate. It's just unacceptable."

"Family don't end in blood, Idjit," Maria quipped quite easily, holding a finger up to Dean as he tried to interrupt her. "Hunters, we're a family, each and every one of us, or at least that is how it has been for every one that Stevie and I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with. So, you're the Winchesters, and what? Just because we haven't gone to Hell we don't understand the consequences of living in this world?" Again Dean went to speak and Maria cut him off, her anger just barely beneath the surface of her words, "I will fight just as hard, if not harder than you, to protect not only my sister, but your brother because that is what we do. The Winchesters may be legends, but the Hilliards are no myth. We have endured and will continue to endure anything tossed our way because it is who we are. So don't you dare suggest that I may not be bothered by what my sister is about to go through, it could possibly be the last suggestion you ever make."

"Hold up, sister," he huffed, finally able to get a word in, "Yes, I do think that Sam and I have earned our place and what we've been through, yeah, it means a hell of a fucking lot. If it weren't for us, do you think you'd be prancing around here with your know-it-all attitude? We stopped the fucking Apocalypse. Did we even get a thank you? No. No, we did not." He let out a sigh of frustration, "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, but right now it appears as if my brother is about to go through shit once more and... You just don't know." His head dropped as he sat back in his chair, a moment of rare emotion emerging, "Last time Sam died, he didn't want to come back."

Maria took a breath, her voice softening, acknowledging his emotion without pitying him, "Sam will be okay. Stevie will be okay. We will not lose because it is not a fate that we will choose to accept. No one will die on this watch. There was a reason we were brought together, and regardless of which side 'wins', no one will determine our fate. Together," she said, gave him a wink to lighten the mood, "Winchesters and Hilliards? Unstoppable."


	6. Chapter 6

mine our fate. Together," she said, gave him a wink to lighten the mood, "Winchesters and Hilliards? Unstoppable."

After a restless night where Castiel had not returned, the girls bunking in an empty room down from the boys, morning hit and Stevie was up before Maria, not that it was anything unusual, her sister loved her sleep. Moving quietly out the room, still dressed only in a baggy shirt and a pair of Scooby pajama pants which she had slept in the night before, she crept down the hall. Finding her way to the kitchen, she searched until she found the coffee, starting a pot, needing the dark liquid magic to help her get through the day.

She felt his presence before he had even spoke, sure that whatever was happening between them was drawing him in just as much as it was her, she could only hope he would fight it as hard as she was. "Good morning," Sam all but mumbled, grateful for the smell of the coffee streaming into the pot. Not even waiting for it to finish, he reached for a mug, moving the pot out of the way, letting it drip right into his mug, then grabbing another one for Stevie and filling it before replacing the pot to let it finish. He handed her the mug, moving to the refrigerator to grab the milk, taking it to the table where there was already a bowl of sugar awaiting them.

Fixing their coffee, sitting on opposite sides of the table, they finally actually looked at one another, Stevie grateful for the moment alone, if only to talk to him briefly before they started the day with their siblings. "Did you dream last night," she asked, as fearful as she was curious for his answer.

He nodded, "I did. You, too?"

She looked at him over her coffee cup, staring into eyes she felt she could know forever all the while trying to grasp that it wasn't even her feelings, that although she wasn't possessed, she might as well have been. "You were good," she sighed, trying to make light of a situation that wasn't funny at all. Playing with a person's heartstrings was wrong on so many levels, especially a woman that hadn't let herself feel for almost a decade.

"Does it feel stronger to you today?" he asked, his eyes staring deep into hers as well, trying to see if there was any way he could pick out what was real and what was not, but to his dismay, all he could see was a woman he could fall in love with, and sadly, she really was only a dream.

"So much so that I almost went to you instead of making coffee," she said softly, suddenly grateful when she heard the door open down the hall, heavy footsteps coming toward them.

"Hey, you already made coffee, you're my hero," Dean joked, pouring himself a cup and joining the two at the table. "I guess Cas still hasn't shown up." Noticing the silence that hung over the table, his eyes moved from one to the other, "Why are you two so quiet? Something else happen?"

Neither one spoke for a moment, still staring into each other's eyes, Sam finally taking a deep breath as he broke the eye contact turning to look at Dean. "It's stronger," was all he said, not needing to say more for his brother to understand.

Dean gazed down at his cup of coffee as if it could give him answers, "Maybe we need to keep you two apart."

Stevie and Sam both had thought about this, but it was Stevie who spoke up. "I don't think that will matter. I'm not sure, but I feel like time and space is only going to make it worse. We need to talk to Castiel, he has to give us some kind of answers, at least something to help us fight this feeling."

"Oh, dear God, please don't go all REO Speedwagon on me, I don't think I can take that this early in the morning," Maria grumbled as she made her own way to the coffee pot, Dean shooting her an appreciative smirk at her wit.

Stevie rolled her eyes at her sister, though she couldn't help but smile. If there was one person that she did love in this world, it was her sister, and no matter what, she knew that their bond would never be broken, nor could it be corrupted by a being that had no business meddling in her life. "Did you ever come up with anything on your computer last night? I know you were up late on it."

Maria, obviously not a morning person, "Oh yeah, I found all the answers but decided I wouldn't tell you until this morning in case you wanted to go get your freak on with your stud muffin there."

Sam arched a brow, but Stevie shook her head at him, letting him know that it was simply Maria's sarcasm that made her so cheerful in the morning. "Well, obviously, Little Miss Sunshine, you didn't find all the answers, but a place to start would be helpful."

After pouring herself a cup of coffee, Maria sat down in a chair beside her sister, laying her head on her shoulder, "I got nothing." She closed her eyes, "I want more sleep."

Stevie leaned her head against her sister's, knowing that this reaction from her was from the simple fact that she hadn't found anything to help her and Sam, nor any information on what trials may lay ahead for them. Maria was never good with what she deemed failure. "It's okay," Stevie said softly, "we'll figure this out together."


	7. Chapter 7

With everyone dressed and sitting around, no one quite sure about what they should be doing, as investigating the sacrifices wasn't likely to help at this point until they knew more about what was happening with this struggle between Heaven and Hell. As the day wore on, each of the four had at one time or another took a few minutes out to yell for Castiel, hoping to get his attention and bring him there, hopefully with answers to their growing questions. Stevie had found herself stealing glances at Sam throughout the morning and then mentally chastising herself, but there was some consolation in the fact that he had been stealing glances at her as well. There was just something about him, she wanted to believe, and yet, she knew it wasn't her own thoughts, but how could they not be?

She'd found herself watching as he would get up, walk around the table or even just lean down and look into the fridge for food that hadn't magically appeared no matter how much he'd wished it. When he brought her over a bottled water, his fingers touched her hand and the spark was intense, so much so that she outwardly gasped, then let out a near heart wrenching sigh. She'd built walls, not just one but many, so she'd never get hurt like that again, never again be vulnerable and in less than a day Sam had bulldozed his way through every single one without even trying.

"Where the hell are you, Cas," Dean grumbled for what must have been the hundredth time that day, Stevie's reaction having not gone unnoticed.

"Right here, Dean," Castiel answer evenly.

"Where have you been? We've been calling you all day." Dean huffed, standing up to move over toward Castiel.

"I got your messages," Castiel spoke, this time including everyone in his gaze.

"And you couldn't even pick up the phone and give us a clue what the hell is going on?" It was obvious that Dean's mood was not getting better by Castiel's appearance just yet.

"There is no cell reception in Heaven," he simply offered, then let his eyes move between Stevie and Sam. "I can't say that I'm surprised," he said as he moved over toward where Stevie was sitting, his eyes still moving between the two. "You've both joined this world because of losing the one you were intending to spend your life with," he said, then turning to silence Dean before he could speak. "I know that Sam grew up in this life, but he'd given it up until," his words trailed off, not needing to say her name for everyone to understand.

"You have to help us find a way to stop this, Cas. I don't... I can't..." Stevie's words faltered, and Castiel putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, his eyes closing as he sighed with the frustration of knowing that at this moment, he couldn't help her. There were still more questions to be answered, more questions still to be asked, and until such a time as he could do it all, he did not know how to heal the girl's suffering.

"I know that you've blocked this part of you off for a long time, but I hope this helps you to at least realize that when we are done, you need to start opening yourself up more, lest you be prone to such heartbreak again," he told her, knowing that his words would most likely fall on deaf ears.

"Okay, I've had enough," Maria said as she stood up. "Give me something, anything, that I can do to at least start to figure out how to cure my sister. What happens if they give in to... whatever this is? I want to know." She was standing behind her sister now, her eyes fierce with a loyalty few would ever have the pleasure of knowing.

"I don't know," Castiel replied honestly. "No one does at this point, which is why I don't have any answers. There are dozens of angels up in Heaven right now pouring through millenniums of scripture to try and find these answers. I wish I could tell you more."

"We can't just sit here waiting for Sam and Stevie to jump each other's bones. We have to do something," Dean huffed, running his hand over his short hair, the frustration in the action as obvious as the look on his face.

"We're not," Sam said as he spoke up for the first time since Castiel had arrived. "We're going to go ahead and treat this like any other hunt. We're going to find answers and do what we do best," his words were strong with determination as his eyes then fell to Stevie. "Like you said before, we don't give in."

Stevie smiled up at him, knowing that above all else she had a partner in this that truly understood how she felt, then looking to her sister she knew she had the strongest of allies. The more her heart opened up to Sam, the more she knew she had to rely on Maria. With each hour that passed, she could feel the pull of Sam deepen, it was becoming near irresistible. She turned her eyes to Castiel, "Go find out what you can as soon as you can. We're going to handle this our way until you can give us something better. Nobody is going to choose our fate, no one but us."


	8. Chapter 8

The table was once more filled with the papers from the day before, now with the addition of both Maria's and Sam's laptops, the two typing furiously as they researched the possible next target city. The previous sacrifices had been all over the map with what appeared to be no common factor, but both Stevie and Dean refused to believe that, knowing that somehow they were all connected. While they studied the points on the map, both flipping through books that held all the knowledge that they had collected, a thought began to creep into Stevie's mind.

Grabbing the map and pulling it to her, Stevie began to trace the pattern that she'd seen in her journal, and obscure entry that she'd put in even before her first hunt, when she was just researching and training. "I'll be damned," she muttered under her breath.

Catching Dean's attention, he stared at her, calling Maria and Sam over as he watched her piece together a symbol from the cities where the sacrifices had been done. Her eyes were moving all over the map studying where the next point of the symbol should be, and then she had it. "Omaha," was all she said for a moment, her finger having moved to the next logical place.

"Nebraska?" Dean asked, a little unsure of how she'd come up with it, though the symbol did look familiar.

"What is that?" Sam asked, moving in to look over her shoulder, recognizing the symbol as well, though not sure where it came from. He could almost feel the buzz coming off of Stevie's body, a certain sign they were on to something.

"It's a Christian symbol for unity, isn't it?" Maria asked, trying to remember where she'd seen it last, but for the life of her she wasn't putting it together.

Stevie nodded, still looking over the map, following every point on it to make sure she was right, they couldn't afford for her to make a mistake, to be off even by a little bit. "I want to do a more exact drawing here, but we're looking at somewhere around Omaha," Stevie voiced, her eyes still on the map, trying to see exactly where they should go. She looked at Maria, finally realizing that she hadn't answered their questions, "Yes, it's a symbol for unity, so if you can, see what you can find out about it?" She turned so she could see Sam, "Can you start a search for any local lore of any sorts in and around Omaha?"

Maria nodded, quickly moving to her computer as Sam did the same, but not before taking the chance to grab Stevie's hand, however slight, the desire to touch her starting to feel almost overwhelming. Sam moved away as Dean looked at her, "I'm going to go stock up my baby. I want to be able to get out of here as soon as we know where we're going." He took a moment and looked at Stevie, finally reconciling the woman he'd heard about with the woman he had met. Underneath, she was still that hunter who didn't back down from anything, and what she was doing now, fighting, not giving in, made him feel a whole lot better than he had yesterday when he thought she was just walking away from the fight. She was, as her sister had said, processing. "We'll take care of this. Trust me, Sam and I have a little experience in screwing up the best laid plans," he said, giving her a little wink of encouragement.

Stevie smiled, appreciating Dean's show of confidence in her, "Maria and I are pretty good at that, too." She nodded toward the garage, "The keys are in my car, stock mine as well? She shouldn't need much."

Dean went to nod as Maria piped up, "'Vie, I know you like to be in control as much as possible, but I think on this hunt, we should take my car." Stevie looked down, the gears in her mind turning as she thought through the different scenarios of what could take place, then finally nodded, knowing that her pride would need to take a backseat. It wasn't something she was particularly good at it, but she did always manage to step back when it counted. Maria pulled her keys from her pocket and tossed them to Dean, "Don't scratch it."

Catching the keys in the air, Dean muttered, "It." He shook his head as he walked toward the garage still muttering. "She called her baby It."

~Feedback/Reviews would be greatly appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

p align="justify"Stevie had worked the map again, being more precise with the pen as she used the cities to draw out the unity symbol, and she had been mostly right. Outside of Omaha there were two small towns where ritual would most likely take place. First, she checked and then double checked before looking up at Maria and Sam, both buried in their own worlds they found on their computers, the places where they could draw their own sense of control./p  
p align="justify""There are two places we need to concentrate on," she began, and was held off as Sam held up his finger to stop her, then with a few more clicks, his face fell into a bit of a smile./p  
p align="justify""I think I've got it," he said, looking at his computer screen and nodding more to himself than anything, "Union, Nebraska. Population, 5,340. Which, if you add the zero at the end of it, is the Numeric English Alphabet for Unity." He watched Stevie's face cloud over with confusion, and was surprised to find Maria picking up where he'd left off./p  
p align="justify""It's a numeric system that Christians have used for centuries to push their beliefs with their own proof that God is good and Lucifer is bad. Good words add up to 444, bad words, obviously add up to 666. Kind of freaky, but not proof to me. Not to mention there has been a lot of controversy as to which numeric code is the right one."/p  
p align="justify"Sam nodded, an actual grin on his face as Maria had picked up exactly where he'd left off, "Yeah, if I remember correctly Lucifer is a 444 word, so I hate to tell them..."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie canted her head to the side, her mind now whirling, "Maria what did you find out about the unity symbol? Just think... a devil's mark masquerading as a Christian symbol? It's not as if that hasn't been done before, right?"/p  
p align="justify""Right," Sam agreed, pushing his chair back and moving to look at the map in front of Stevie, leaning over her shoulder, the briefest of touches and once more it felt as if sparks flew, catching them both off guard again before they tried to conceal it, but it had not gone unseen by Maria. They were making progress, she was sure of that, but they needed to make it faster. Doing his best not to touch her, he let his finger travel the map to where Union lay on the grid that Stevie had drawn out. He looked to Maria, "This is definitely it, what did you find?"/p  
p align="justify""The unity symbol, or as it is also known, the triquetra," Maria began as Dean came in from the garage, taking a seat at the table after grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She waited for Dean to sit down and then continued, "Anyway, it's basically a symbol for the goddess Mother Earth. She's been known as many names... Ishtar, Aphrodite, Asherah... but they are basically all the same goddess." She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "This is where it gets a little tricky, and probably why both Heaven and Hell think you two are supposed to have a baby. She promotes sexual promiscuity. But I think, from what I've read, though I'm no angel or demon, thank God, that for some reason if the two of you hook up, it cements some long ago deal." She sighed again, throwing her hands up in the air a little, an obvious gesture meant to show how much she wasn't sure on that part./p  
p align="justify""So, if we keep Sam and Stevie from knocking boots, we'll stay in the clear?" Dean asked, not quite sure all that he had missed, but feeling like if that was all they'd managed to find out then they really weren't any closer than before./p  
p align="justify"Stevie screwed her nose up, lost in thought, it actually a little harder to think with Sam so close to her as she could just smell him and she was attracted. Maria, seeming to pick up on this called Sam over to look at her computer. "See what you think about this symbol," she said./p  
p align="justify"Sam moved away from Stevie and over to Maria's computer, instantly realizing what she'd done. He gave her a little smile and nodded, keeping up the pretense. "That's one of the reasons that I think Union is where we need to go. There is a church there, Mount Lion House of Worship, if followed back you can trace its original members to a group of descendants who worshiped the Goddess Kali."/p  
p align="justify"Dean groaned out loud, "Not again. I swear if that bitch is..."/p  
p align="justify"Maria cut him off, "What do you mean, not again?" Dean looked at her and then explained to both Maria and Stevie how he and Sam had come to know the Goddess Kali. How she had been part of a plan to help stop the Apocalypse, but in truth it was more because she felt she should have control as one of the oldest Gods in existence./p  
p align="justify""Do you think she could be behind this?" Stevie asked, not sure how a goddess that was more bent on destruction would use them to gain power over the world and voicing her opinion./p  
p align="justify""That's just it," Maria told her. "If you go back through all the legends and scriptures and everything else on Kali, she was first known as a spiritual mother type, with a sensual side. So I can very well see how it's possible. Is it her? I don't know."/p  
p align="justify"Sam looked at Dean, reminding him, "She still has the vials."/p  
p align="justify""Fuck me," Dean muttered./p  
p align="justify"Maria rolled her eyes, huffing, "Care to fill us in?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam went on to explain that will the vials of blood that Kali had of theirs, she could bind them to her, that she had, in fact, done so before, but because they'd helped her escape Lucifer's wrath, she'd let them go. Neither one of them were looking forward to going anywhere near her or anything to do with her, especially as this seemed to be turning out to almost be a mating ritual./p  
p align="justify"Stevie shook her head, thinking back to when Castiel had first told them of this path they were going down. "I don't understand though, if all of this is being done in Kali's name, where is the issue with Heaven and Hell? Kali is a different god altogether." She furrowed her brow, shaking her head, "It just doesn't make sense."/p  
p align="justify"Maria sat back in her chair and sighed, "She's right, it doesn't make sense at all."/p  
p align="justify""Unless she's trying to get in on the action," Dean offered. "Once before when we were fighting the battle for Earth, the other gods came together to try and defeat Lucifer, maybe she's trying again."/p  
p align="justify""But how would all of this lead back to her over eight years, Dean? I have to agree with the girls," Sam said, taking a seat beside Maria. "None of this is making sense."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie sighed, "I say we still head to Union, check around, see what we can find. All of this could just be some kind of smokescreen and we haven't even seen what we're supposed to be looking at." She looked at Sam, a part of her just wanting to be near him, yet another part of her knew that it wasn't real, and that part of her was full of frustration because deep down, it had been nice to feel for a little while. "I think," she said, still looking at Sam, "It may get worse when we get there. Whatever we do, I don't think we should be alone."/p  
p align="justify"Sam nodded, knowing exactly how she felt, as he, too, wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and promise her everything would be alright. "We'll get through this," he said softly, his eyes staring right into hers. "We won't give in."/p 


	10. Chapter 10

p align="justify"The cars were fully stocked and ready to go, Dean sure that he'd thought of everything they could possibly need, and even though it was late, they headed out. They'd find a motel somewhere close and be able to get started first thing in the morning. Dean and Sam were leading the way in the Impala, with Maria and Stevie following behind in her Challenger. For the first hour, Stevie was quiet with not much to say, occasionally sending a text here and there, but no conversation forthcoming. Maria had simply turned on the radio, flipping channels until the one classic rock station she could find began to static out. Sighing, she changed media over to her iPod, the car becoming filled with the sounds of Eminem, a drastic change and one that got Stevie to raise a brow at her./p  
p align="justify""Really?" she asked as the sounds of the megastar rapper filled the car, Maria singing every word by heart. "We're about to go into God knows what, and the last music I hear is going to be that?"/p  
p align="justify"Maria grinned at her with a nod, "Absofuckinglutely. Everybody needs a little Eminem in their life." She took her eyes off the road again to nod toward Stevie's phone, "Do I even want to know who you're texting or do I already know?"/p  
p align="justify""It's just texting, Maria," she sighed, though a part of her knew that her sister was right. "I just..." she tried again and found herself lacking the words to express how she felt. "I don't know, Mare. It's like... Ugh," she struggled. "I need to talk to him, or text him or God knows whatever. I know that it's not real and I know the chemistry that we have isn't us, but a part of it feels so damned good." She trailed off for a moment and Maria was about to speak until she realized that Stevie wasn't finished, she was collecting her thoughts. "When Brian..." she started, a look of surprise hitting Maria's face as she never talked about him, it had been a subject she'd deemed off limits./p  
p align="justify""When Brian came over that night, he had talked to Mom and Dad and told them he wanted to marry me. Of course they said we were too young, and he understood what they were saying, and he promised a long engagement if they would just support him giving me a ring." Maria was a little shocked by all of this, as she'd had no idea. Stevie had never mentioned it, though in all honesty, she wasn't surprised./p  
p align="justify""He was proposing when the demon attacked," she all but whispered. "One minute he was asking me to marry him and the next, our family was laid out before my eyes, butchered." She took a deep breath and continued, "It took the ring and somehow used it to fillet Brian. I don't know, it didn't make sense, but when he left, he took it with him." Stevie looked at Maria, "There is such a part of me that wishes this was real, because it helps to ease the pain I felt that night. It doesn't take it away, nothing could, but it makes me believe I could love someone again." She looked down at her phone, a text from Sam awaiting. I'm here for you. "How cruel for it to all be make believe," she whispered so softly Maria almost didn't hear it./p  
p align="justify"Maria had thought about this, and she wasn't sure exactly how she felt, almost as if she were straddling the fence on it. On the one hand, it was so nice to have her sister show emotion that she really barely remembered her ever having, but on the other, she knew it would most likely hurt all the more, make her withdraw so much more so when it was over. She didn't know if the life they led would be one that would last forever, though in truth, she honestly couldn't imagine a world free of evil, but she knew there was always the possibility of one or both of them retiring the life. A possibility, though slim, she thought./p  
p align="justify""Maybe texting is fine," Maria ventured, her voice softening as it took on the love she shared with her sister. "I don't know, and I guess that's the problem. We just don't know what is going to happen. I just," she shook her head, her eyes still on the road, "I don't want you getting hurt."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie smiled softly, touching Maria's arm, thanking her for the strength she gave her. "Too late for that, but I know with you on my side, I'm going to come out on top./p  
p align="justify"Maria smiled over at her sister, knowing that she meant every word. They fell back into silence, Maria eventually going back to singing along with the songs as they rode down the highway, the black top stretching out before them. They would be reaching Union soon, and she was looking forward to getting some kind of take out before they hit the hotel, knowing that tomorrow could hold all kinds of trouble and they'd need all they had to make sure they came out on top. Stevie's birthday was only days away, and they couldn't let it come and go without figuring out how to stop the coming chaos./p 


	11. Chapter 11

p align="justify"Sam looked down at his phone, the message awaiting him making him smile regardless of the situation at hand. I'm here for you, too. We'll get through this and be stronger for it. He had to admit that he loved how resilient she seemed to be, fighting these feelings they found themselves having, yet somehow managing to be there for him, do her job as a hunter, and deal with the pain that he was coming to realize that these emotions truly held for her./p  
p align="justify""Are you really trying to fight this, Sammy? Because that smile..." Dean's words trailed off, and Sam shook his head./p  
p align="justify""It's not like that, Dean. We're both dealing with this, so I guess maybe we have bonded somewhat, and I just know that when all of this is over we're still going to be friends. We're going to stay in touch and talk. I think it will be nice to have them out there, knowing when we need help, they'll have our backs," he explained as best he could./p  
p align="justify""I'm just worried, you know," Dean spoke honestly. "It's not like you've had the best of luck with stuff like this. What happens if this gets all fubar and we lose her? How are you going to deal with that?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam looked at him and shook his head, "We're not going to let that happen, Dean. Whatever it takes, Stevie Hilliard will not die. I hope you understand that."/p  
p align="justify"Dean sighed as he took in Sam's words, his brother always so quick to put his life on the line for anyone, even him, and he knew that he couldn't lose his brother again. Too many times he'd watched Sam get taken away from him and life was never right without him no matter how hard he would try to make it so. Their bond was strong, they were all each other had for most of their lives, the only one they could truly trust to be there, so if Sam was hell bent and determined to save Stevie, he was, too. There was no way they were going to lose this one without a fight./p  
p align="justify"Sam looked up ahead, noticing a small motel with its lights on, they were only five miles outside of Union now and he guessed it was probably going to be their best bet for a night's sleep. He told Dean to pull into the parking lot up ahead and texted Stevie to let her know of the plan. With both cars parked, everyone getting out to stretch their legs, Sam looked at Stevie and could just feel the warmth coming from her, her smile a little softer than he'd seen yet, one matched by his own./p  
p align="justify""I kinda wanted some food before we bedded down for the night," Maria spoke as she stretched out her limbs, the look between Stevie and Sam not going unnoticed./p  
p align="justify"Sam looked away from Stevie then, nodding to Maria, "I thought maybe we'd get checked in and see if there is somewhere near we can get something. I'm sure the manager would be able to lead us in the right direction."/p  
p align="justify"Dean, always one ready to eat, agreed, "Why don't you two get us checked in and Sam and I'll go find food? That work for you two?"/p  
p align="justify"The girls agreed and after a brief talk with the manager as they were getting themselves checked in, the boys were off to get a late dinner, leaving the girls with their bags. The motel was small, one story and only offered eighteen rooms. Stevie, planning ahead, paid up for three nights, all the way up to her birthday. She couldn't help it if her mind silently questioned if it would be her last. When the manager handed her the keys to the rooms, she closed her eyes for only a moment, looking down at the blue diamond shaped plastic with the room numbers showing in a dull gold. Rooms seventeen and eighteen, was it a sign, or just an odd twist of fate, she couldn't be sure./p  
p align="justify"She met Maria outside and told her to pick a room, that they were at the very end of the building. Looking at the numbers, Maria shook her head, the same thing going through her mind as it had Stevie's. "Do we tempt fate and stay in eighteen, or say fuck the bitch and stay in seventeen anyway?" she smirked./p  
p align="justify"Stevie would often say that her sister was her best friend in the whole world, and tonight she'd really made that even more so. There was just something about the way she tackled life, the way she was always right there beside her through thick and thin that Stevie loved and maybe at times took for granted, though she never meant to. Stooping down to pick up her bag, she stood up and grinned at her sister, at times they were truly on the same wavelength, everything was riding on her birthday, the seventeenth, so why not? "Fuck that bitch."/p 


	12. Chapter 12

"So listen," Dean started as they left the diner, burgers and fries all around for everyone, with pie on the side, Dean more than willing to eat anyone's who didn't want theirs. "This thing with Stevie, is it just about jumping her? You know, like all you want is to get into each other's pants?"

Sam sighed, he knew that Dean was really just trying to understand, but he wasn't even sure he could explain it himself. "I don't know, Dean. It's," he trailed off for a few seconds, then continued, "It's like, yes, I want her. I really, really want her, but it's deeper than that, too." He shook his head, the motel already coming into view down the road. "It's like for the first time in my life, someone gets me. I don't have to hide who I am and what I do. And she wants me, too."

Dean smirked at Sam, "Come on, Sammy, you've never had a problem with the women. Those puppy dog eyes of yours and they all melt at your feet."

"That's just it, Dean," he said as they pulled in beside Maria's car, "I didn't want them, but I do want Stevie."

Dean let it go, though there was so much he wanted to say. Why couldn't it have been him and Maria? He felt absolutely certain that the younger Hilliard would be able to resist him easily. Not that he would mind hooking up with the girl, she was smokin' hot and had a sharp wit, someone that could easily keep up with him. And the fact that she was known to be able to kick ass? Always a bonus. And there had been a few moments where he'd caught her looking at him, but he knew if he said anything to her, she'd simply deny it.

"Do I even want to know what you are thinking about?" Sam asked before getting out the car, the bags of food already in his hand.

Dean arched his brow at him, shaking his head, "Just thinking of all the ways I can look out for you, little brother."

Sam slightly chuckled at that, knowing his brother far too well. "Yeah? I have a feeling if you get within even ten feet of that girl with those intentions, you're going to end up dead. Again. And I'm not even sure which one of them would get to you first, though my bet would be on Stevie."

Dean threw his hands up, "Hey, it's all on you. I was just thinking it wouldn't have been bad, is all."

Opening the door and standing up, the take out bags in one hand, he shut the door to the Impala and headed toward the room with the noise coming from it, obviously the girls must have dropped their bags in their room and left a light on for them, very thoughtful. Stopping at door 17, Sam arched a brow. Had they requested that room? Knowing that everything they were about to take on hinged on her birthday, was she trying to give the angels and demons a nice fuck you?

With his free hand, he knocked on their door, trying his best not to do a double take at Stevie, who'd obviously just come fresh from a shower, over Maria's shoulder. Maria opened the door a little wider for them to come in, her voice just loud enough for Sam to hear it as he walked by, "Don't. Please."

He took a deep breath, reining in the feelings that weren't even his own, looking down and nodding at Maria. He knew what her sister meant to her, and he also knew that when all of this was said and done, when him and Dean went their way and the girls another, it would be Maria that would be left to heal whatever damage was done to Stevie, so the least he could do was abide her wishes. "Burgers?" he said as he held up the bags, walking over to the small table, starting to set the Styrofoam plate boxes out, claiming a chair for himself, assuming the girls would rather sit on their beds.

Stevie smiled at Sam, not quite sure what Maria had said to him, though knowing she had. She had just finished running the brush through her long, black hair, it still wet from her shower. Already changed into her pajamas, this time a pair of hello kitty ones and a small pink tank top. On hindsight, probably not the best outfit to wear in front of Sam, but they were surrounded by their siblings, so they would be fine.

"A burger sounds amazing," she said, having not eaten much since Castiel had dropped this bomb on them. "Please tell me you got lots of ketchup for the fries," she asked, her voice ever hopeful.

"Lots of ketchup, and pie," Dean grinned, proud that he'd brought everyone a piece of pie.

Maria laughed, shaking her head at him, "I love pie, Dean, so we may be able to be friends after all."

Stevie looked at Maria, her brow raised in question as her eyes slid over to Sam, his face meeting her expression with a question of his own. She simply mouthed, _No, she doesn't_. Sam bit back a laugh, and shook his head, wondering if possible, maybe Dean wasn't the only one thinking it wouldn't have been a bad idea for him to hook up with Maria.

Time slipped away quickly and before they realized it, the food was gone and the clock had long since passed the witching hour, the boys shuffled out into the cold, and quickly into their own room, settling down to grab a few hours of sleep before they tackled a new day. As Stevie lay in her bed, and Maria in hers, the quiet had become very still when Stevie softly spoke, breaking the silence, "You love pie now, huh?"

"Fuck you, 'Vie. Just... fuck you." Maria sighed, her eye roll completely lost on the giggling girl in the bed next to hers.


	13. Chapter 13

The sun had given its light to the day several hours before either set of siblings crawled out of their beds, something that was quite unusual. Stevie rolled over and picked up her phone, bringing it to life as her eyes widened, realizing the time. "Holy fuck, Maria! It's after ten o'clock!" she cried, jumping out of bed and heading to the bathroom. "We've got way too much to do to be sleeping this late," she fussed, immediately leaving the bathroom, heading for the door. "Why in the hell didn't Sam and Dean wake us up? Where in the hell..." her words trailed off when she opened the door and found the Impala still parked by Maria's Challenger. She began to pound on their door, "Sam! Dean! Get up!" She couldn't explain the feeling, but somehow something felt off. It wasn't at all normal for all of them to sleep like this.

Sam was rolling in his sleep when he heard Stevie banging on the door, her voice in what seemed like a panic. He scrambled out of the bed as graceless as one possibly could, jerking the door open, his eyes falling on what seemed to be a distraught troll doll, Stevie's hair sticking up all over the place. He reached out and grabbed her, his instant reaction to pull her toward him, holding her tightly against his bare chest. "Shh, what's wrong, Stevie?" he asked, feeling her relax against him.

"I thought," she began, then took a deep breath to continue, "I thought something had happened. It's after ten and you didn't wake us up so I was mad, but then the Impala was still there and I just got... scared." He didn't know her as well as he should, considering the feelings he had for her, but he was quite certain that Stevie Hilliard didn't admit to being scared very often.

"It's okay," he said softly, kissing the top of her head reassuringly. "Maybe we all just had a later night than we realized, but we do need to get started."

Stevie slowly pushed out of his embrace, her green eyes staring up at him, making sure that he really was okay and that maybe he was right, maybe they'd all just simply overslept. "Okay," she said slowly, still trying to piece together the uneasy feeling she had. "Maybe it's just nothing."

"It's never just nothing on a trip like this," Dean all but groaned from his place in the bed. "Sammy, it doesn't look like you're restraining too much there."

"She was scared, Dean," he huffed, looking back at Stevie. "Why don't we all get ready and figure out what is going on together?" He gave her a little smile, his eyes softening, his voice only loud enough for her to hear, "Remember, we're in this together."

She nodded, reaching up and touching his cheek gently, her eyes directly on his, "Together."

After the tiniest of moments, the two stepped apart, Sam stepping back into his room and Stevie moving over into hers. She was still being nagged by the feeling of something being off when her and Maria were ready to walk out the door. Maria, still not a morning person, even though by the time they walked out of the motel room it was after eleven, wasn't sure if Stevie were going crazy, or if she really was feeling something out of sorts.

"I just don't understand it," she said as they locked the door behind them. "So we all slept in, is that really such a bad thing? It's not like we weren't up late or anything."

"I think what Stevie's worried about is it is unlike at least some of us to sleep in like this, especially with a case as important as this one. We're possibly talking about another freaking Apocalypse. I think it's possible that someone, or something, is already screwing with us," Dean said from where he was leaning against his car.

"As if we're not already being screwed with?" Sam added, his eyes once more on Stevie, who had tamed her locks and no longer resembled that troll doll he'd witnessed when he'd opened his door.

Stevie nodded, "Sam's right. They started that when they set the plan in motion for Sam and I to meet. And now whoever is pulling these strings realizes that we're on to it and they are going to slow us down at every stop possible. We're going to have to be more careful than ever."

Maria had moved to lean against her car, almost opposite of Dean. Last night they'd really not discussed much once they'd sat down to eat, just taken a little time to try and enjoy themselves before the sun rose and the hunt was once more back on. "My thoughts," she said, watching her sister move ever closer toward Sam, maybe even unconsciously, "is that Stevie and I should go to the church, see what we can find out. Talk to the preacher or anyone else we can."

Dean agreed, "That sounds good. Sam and I can take the Sheriff's Department, see if there has been any suspicious activity." He nodded at Sam, looking to both of their jean clad legs, "We may need to make a wardrobe change for that one."

"Be careful with that," Stevie warned, "I'm not sure that we should try to be too crafty here. They'll be likely to feel they need to check you out. You know?"

Dean nodded, it had been so much easier when Bobby had always been there to provide that back up. The numbers on their cards still rang back to the numbers at his house, even though he was gone, they still did their best to keep his house up and running. However slim, giving every piece of hope up wasn't something the Winchesters did.

Maria had listened to Stevie's warning, a slow smile coming across her lips. She nodded to Sam and Dean, "Your IDs still have Bobby's number listed?" When they gave her the affirmative, her smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "I got this," she said, pulling out her phone and working her magic. "The FBI number, right?" she asked and once more given an affirmative nod. When Dean tried to interrupt to ask what she was doing, both Sam and Stevie hushed him. After a few minutes, Maria looked up with a pleased as punch look on her face. "Go on, dial it," she told Dean.

Taking his phone out his pocket he called the number he knew by heart, not sure what he was going to hear, until the line was picked up, and he heard Maria's voice, just now realizing he'd actually called her phone. "Yes, Sir," she played, "Agents Dumb and Dumber are under my command. Yes, Sir, I do realize that they really are pretty dumb, but please let them go ahead with their investigation. It keeps them out of my hair. And this hair doesn't come cheap."

Stevie was openly laughing at Maria's impersonation as well as her description of Sam and Dean. "In other words," Maria smiled at the two who were obviously never used to working with a set of sisters like them, "We have got you covered. You have any problems, you refer to your boss Marie Kennedy and I'll handle that backwoods lawman like you'd handle a Georgia rattler. You grab it by the tail and swing it around so fast then pop it, pops it's head right on off."

Sam and Dean were both staring at Maria, not really sure what they were watching, but realizing enough to know that they should feel a little affronted, but how much they weren't really sure. Dean finally spoke, the image in his head not gelling at all with the one he'd had just five minutes earlier. "You can't just..." he started slowly, his facial expression saying even more.

"Can't pop a snake's head off? Hell yeah, you can. Next time we're in Georgia, I'll show you. I'm the best rattlesnake handler back home. I once basically juggled three snakes while popping each one's head off. Now that was something to see."

Stevie pulled Maria's arm and then pushed her toward the driver's seat, Sam walking the long way around the car just so he had to walk by Stevie, and while no words were spoken, they each reached out their fingers as he moved by, the briefest of seconds of touch to sustain them until saw each other again. She'd felt the spark of Sam's touch as their fingers slid through each other, then she was sliding into the passenger seat of Maria's car, giving Maria a look that said more than any words ever could.

"What?" She asked with a grin, "Those boys don't have a clue about us country girls." Rocks flew as she sped out of the motel parking lot toward the church, "They have so much yet to learn."


	14. Chapter 14

p align="justify"The boys still had to get changed into their 'fed' gear, so Maria and Stevie had made the church long before they'd even really gotten out the door. Maria pulled up into the gravel parking lot, parking close to what would appear to be an office door. She looked over at Stevie, who was still quite bothered by the earlier events of the day, "Are you going to be okay? I can handle this myself."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie shook her head, "I'm good. We just really need to be careful. We've only got two days now, and we can't afford to be to pushy. We need these people to help us, not shut us out."/p  
p align="justify"Maria nodded, "I know, 'Vie. Don't worry, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie gave her a soft smile, reaching over and covering her hand with her own, an expression of pure pride on her face, "Care to tell me exactly when you grew up so much? It's always been me protecting you, and now look at you."/p  
p align="justify"Maria shook her head at her sister, "I've been grown up for a long time now, 'Vie, you just didn't want to see it. You brought me into this life with you, all the while trying so hard to protect me even though you knew in your heart that the only way you could protect me was to teach me to protect myself. And you've done that, and we've always had each other's back." She looked down for a moment, the past rushing up to meet her head on, "I wasn't really there for you when Mom and Dad died, and Brian. I wanted to be, I just didn't know how."/p  
p align="justify""You're here for me now, Mare, and that is all that matters," Stevie said, meaning it more than any other words she'd spoken. She took a deep breath, shaking the uneasiness away as she opened her door. "Let's go see what we can find out about this place. There has to be something to learn here and I'm not leaving until we find out exactly what it is."/p  
p align="justify"Maria met her around the front of the car, and they headed toward the office door together, surprised to see the door open before they reached it, an older woman walking out and locking up. Maria ran the few steps up ahead, trying to catch the woman before she completely locked up and prepared to leave. "Hi," she called out, "I was wondering if you could help us?"/p  
p align="justify"The woman turned at hearing Maria and seeing Stevie join her sister's side, "And what is it I can do for you two?" Her voice was polite, yet not completely open, reserving judgment until after hearing what the girls wanted./p  
p align="justify"It was Stevie that spoke up, "We were really hoping to get some information about this church. You see, my sister and I here are traveling the United States visiting the oldest churches out there, we're hoping to write a book about the religious institutions throughout America. And my sister here, well, when she saw this one, she all but demanded we add it to our book." Maria nodded enthusiastically, playing her part perfectly./p  
p align="justify"The woman paused, obviously thinking this over, but then shook her head, "I'd really love to help you out, but I've got to get over to the nursing home and help out with the lunch service there. I always give a prayer service afterwards." She smiled regretfully at the two young women, then added, "Of course if you could come back in a couple of hours, I'd be glad to help you out with any information that you need."/p  
p align="justify"Maria's eyes brightened, "Thank you so much, Mrs...", she paused, waiting for the woman to give them her name./p  
p align="justify""Cannon," she offered, "Elizabeth Cannon."/p  
p align="justify"Maria continued, "Thank you, Mrs. Cannon. My name is Maria and this is my sister Stephanie." She could almost feel Stevie bristling behind her, but she felt that Mrs. Cannon would be more receptive to a pair of sisters who screamed of Christianity than a pair of siblings who spent their lives as hunters, killing the things that went bump in the night./p  
p align="justify"Mrs. Cannon smiled, "Well, if you two nice young ladies will meet me back here at 3:00, I'll see what kind of information I can help you out with." She started her walk to her car, calling over her shoulder, "You should also check out our local library and museum, they have a lot of information on the church as well."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie and Maria nodded, smiling and waving goodbye to her as they made their way back to Maria's car. Once settled behind the wheel, Maria looked to her sister. "I'll take the library; you take the museum?"/p  
p align="justify"Stevie sighed, "How about we Rock, Paper, Scissors it?"/p  
p align="justify"Maria rolled her eyes, but brought her fist to lay in her flattened palm. "Alright, go." Both girls smacked their fists against their three times before stopping with their choices, Maria's fist still balled tight on her palm, while Stevie's hand was laid out flat./p  
p align="justify"Stevie grinned, "Paper covers rock. You get the museum."/p  
p align="justify"Maria huffed as they pulled out, heading further into the small town. "You really are a bitch, 'Vie. You know I hate museums."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie winked at her, "Face your fears, my dear."/p 


	15. Chapter 15

p align="justify"Sam and Dean walked into the Sheriff's office with as much confidence as ever, having played this role so many times over the years that they could almost believe they were federal agents in a former life. Dean walked up to the counter, flashing his badge quickly as Sam did the same behind him. "Agents Tyler and Perry, we need to speak to your Sheriff, please," Dean spoke in his most official voice./p  
p align="justify"The man behind the desk fumbled for a moment, surprised that two bonafide F.B.I. Agents were in their town. He told them to wait right there, and rushed back to the back office where the Sheriff was having lunch with the town mayor. He knocked on the door and opened it, speaking so that Sam and Dean could barely hear him. "Sheriff! There are two guys here with the F.B.I.! They're all dressed up like in the movies and they want to talk to you. Do you think we have some big crime going on that we don't know nothing about?"/p  
p align="justify"The deputy was obviously excited, and to their good fortune, had never come across any real agents of the F.B.I. so hopefully they weren't going to have any problems with their credentials. Sheriff John Waller looked at the mayor and then back up to his deputy. "Gary, why don't you tell those fine gentlemen that I'm in a meeting, but I'll get with them just as soon as I am done, okay?"/p  
p align="justify""But Sheriff, it's just Mayor Hodges," Gary began and quickly stopped when he caught the glare of both the Sheriff and the mayor. "Yes, sir, I'll let them know you'll be with them as soon as you can."/p  
p align="justify"While Gary went up front to have Sam and Dean take a seat, the Sheriff looked at the mayor and shook his head. "You don't think they're here for..." his words trailed off, hoping it was some type of coincidence./p  
p align="justify"Jim Hodges sighed deeply, "We can't take any chances on coincidence right now. It's too close. We're only days away."/p  
p align="justify"John nodded, "We're going to have to get rid of them one way or another." With that, he buzzed Gary and had him send the agents back to the office. When they entered, he stood up and offered his hand, "Good afternoon, gentlemen, I'm Sheriff Waller and this is our mayor, Jim Hodges, how can we help the federal government today?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam and Dean shook hands with both men, taking the offered seats as they began to fish around for any type of anomaly that could point them to the way of what was coming. "So as far as you know, nothing out of the ordinary has happened lately, no livestock turning up missing, no unexplained disappearances or memory losses?" Dean asked, his eyes moving between the Sheriff and the mayor./p  
p align="justify"The Sheriff gave a bit of an awkward laugh, "Are you federal agents or part of that X-Files show? We've never had any kind of thing like that happen around here. We're a pretty small community so if anything out of the ordinary happened, everyone would know about it within the hour."/p  
p align="justify"Jim nodded, "He's right, I think the last thing to hit the Union grape vine was when little Billy Washington ran old Mrs. Isaacson off the road last week with his four wheeler. Damn near put her in the hospital from a heart attack, but that old lady is as tough as a piece of gristle."/p  
p align="justify""So nothing at all," Sam tried again, not exactly sure what his read was on these two./p  
p align="justify""Union is about as quiet and normal as they come, gentlemen. Whatever you're looking for, you're not going to find it here, I'm afraid," the Sheriff then stood, indicating that their meeting was now over. "If you take main street on out, you'll come to a cross road, take a right and that will take you to the interstate. I'm sorry you wasted your time coming out here."/p  
p align="justify"Dean and Sam stood, Dean not liking the brush off at all. "If it's all the same, Sheriff, we're going to hang around, see what Union has to offer," Dean smiled, nodding at Sam as they turned to leave./p  
p align="justify""Don't go looking for trouble, boys, sometimes you find more than you bargained for," Mayor Hodges grinned, though there was obvious dislike of the idea of the boys staying in town./p  
p align="justify"Once back in the car, Sam looked to Dean, "Did you buy all that?"/p  
p align="justify"Dean shook his head, "There is definitely something going on here, and they definitely don't want us around to find out. But is this really something that the town's sheriff and mayor would be involved in?" It did sound a little farfetched, but it wouldn't be the first time that something like that had happened, just because they were lawmen didn't mean they never broke the law. Sam and Dean had seen that happen way too many times to simply dismiss it./p  
p align="justify""I think we need to find out more about this town, maybe we should hit up the library," Sam suggested./p  
p align="justify"Dean was about to agree when he noticed the sign for the Union museum. He looked at Sam, "For a little ordinary town, they sure are proud of their museum. What you want to bet there is something to be found there?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam nodded, "Alright, you go check that out, I'll go check out the library. Let me know if you find anything."/p 


	16. Chapter 16

Sam got out and walked the two blocks to the library while Dean drove off toward the museum. It only took a couple of minutes for Sam to cover the distance, walking into the small building and going up to the desk, asking for local history. The clerk gave him an odd smile and pointed him in the direction of the resources he asked for, "You're the second person today that's asked for them."

Sam told her thank you and moved slowly over to the back corner, turning around the last bookshelf, surprised to find Stevie poring over a table filled with books and papers. His lips quirked up into a smile, "I thought you and Maria were going to the church."

Stevie jumped just slightly at the sound of Sam's voice, her lips curling into a smile at the sight of him, "We did, but we have to go back, the secretary had some volunteer work to do. Maria's at the museum trying to dig up stuff, and I'm here." She looked at the chair beside her, nodding to it, "Sit down, how much trouble can we get in at the library?"

Sam chuckled at that, walking over and taking the seat next to her, his eyes starting to scan the pages she had open all over the table. "What is all this?" he asked, his eyes resting on a sketch of an old church, with what appeared to be an altar behind it.

"This," she said, pointing to the picture that Sam's eyes had fixed on, "I think, is the original Mount Lion Church of Worship, but if you see that sign right there, it says something, but I'm quite sure that the words don't match up. I think it was called something else."

Sam picked up the sketch, his hand briefly brushing hers, knowing that she felt the same shock that he did, but both were pretending they didn't. He squinted his eyes as he studied the sketch. "Any chance you have a magnifying glass," he asked. He was only mildly surprised when she managed to produce one out of the bag at her feet. Holding the glass up, angling it just right, he grinned, "Come here, come look at this."

Stevie stood up and leaned over Sam's shoulder, her body pressed against his as she got as close to the magnifying glass as she could to see what Sam had found. Slowly, she was able to make out the words, "House of Watchers." She moved back, sitting down in her chair once more, her brow creased with thought. "Watchers?" She shook her head, "Unless I'm remembering wrong, aren't they more commonly known as fallen angels?"

Sam nodded, quite impressed that she knew it, it not being something that everyone would pick up on, but he was starting to learn that Stevie and her sister really were the female counterpart to them. They were just as knowledgeable as he and Dean, and if all accounts were real, they were just as battle ready and proven. "Yeah, it looks like we may be dealing with some fallen angels here. Now the question is did they fall because of sin or did they fall as protectors?"

Stevie sighed, shaking her head, "They never make it easy, do they?" She laid back in the chair, a little frustrated by the fact that while they had made progress, they still weren't sure just what side they were dealing with.

"Hey," Sam said softly, "Come here." He took her hand and pulled her to him, feeling her fight an inner battle on whether she should let him touch her, hold her. Finally, she gave in, her head laying against his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her. She closed her eyes slowly, giving into the feeling of trust that she somehow felt with Sam. It was just a hug, she kept telling herself, nothing more, but she could feel her heart racing and her breath catching every time his lips brushed against her hair.

"Sam," she whispered softly, her voice almost breaking. "I want... I wish..."

"Shh," he whispered, "We'll worry about that later, right now let me just take care of you. For one moment, let me help you." He kissed the top of her head, his voice barely a whisper now, "While you help me."

She let him hold her for that moment, and maybe even a moment longer, then pushed out of his arms, her back straightening, her resolve returning in waves. "It's not real, Sam. We have to remember that. What we're feeling, it's not our emotions. It's someone else torturing me, god damn it."

He looked at her, his eyes full of concern and something else as he really studied her. He wondered if she had any idea how this messed with him as well, that how long he'd always wanted something normal and in their life, a relationship with Stevie Hilliard would be as normal as it got. He could already hear Dean in the back of his mind, pointing out how not normal that would be. "We're going to beat this, Stevie, and you'll forget all about me, you'll see," he tried, though not sure if he really wanted that. He'd meant it when he told Dean that he could see him and Stevie as friends when all of this was over.

Stevie looked at him, "Sam, I would never want to forget about you. I just don't like being forced to fall in love with you when I've blocked that part of my soul off since..." Her words trailed off, but Sam didn't need her to finish to know what she was talking about. He'd been through it before, he completely understood what it meant to close yourself off.

After a moment of silence, Sam began to close the books on the table, "Why don't we head over to the museum and let Dean and Maria in on what we found, okay?" Stevie nodded and began to help him replace all of the materials she'd pulled out, taking the sketch and making a photocopy of it before replacing it. Once they were done, they headed toward the museum, their hands close, but this time, not touching.


	17. Chapter 17

Dean pulled up to the museum, a smirk coming to his face as he parked his car right beside Maria's, apparently the girls had struck out at the church and decided they'd check out the local museum as well. At least he wouldn't be searching through all of it by himself he thought as he walked up to the entrance, immediately spotting Maria in front of a case full of what appeared to be pioneer artifacts. He sidled up beside her, "And where is your lovely sister and bodyguard?"

Maria snorted, "As if I need a bodyguard, especially where you're concerned." She then turned to look up at him, thinking that he did look pretty damned nice in the suit and tie. "'Vie went to the library to see what she could dig up there. I lost out, so I'm here, though," she started to continue, but stopped at the look on Dean's face. "What? What's wrong?"

Dean swallowed, not sure how Maria was going to take the news, "Uh, yeah, Sam just went to the library." He watched for a sudden explosion, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't come.

"It's a library, Dean. How much trouble can they get into? Really?" Maria furrowed her brow when Dean got a rather mischievous look in his eyes. "What? Is there something else?"

Dean grinned then, letting his mouth match his eyes, "Trust me when I say there is a lot of fun to be had at a library."

Maria rolled her eyes, sighing deeply, having more faith in her sister than that, "My sister is not going to start making out with your brother between the stacks of Shakespeare and Twilight." She pointed to the glass case in front of her, what looked like an old brass challis, caked in something resembling Georgia red clay. "See that, it looks like red clay, right?" Dean nodded, and Maria continued, "Nebraska doesn't have red clay, all the clay you'll find around here is white. That can't be red clay, unless..."

She trailed off and Dean picked up, "Unless it was soaked in something red." He looked Maria in the eye, his brow arched, "Like blood?"

She nodded, "That's what I'm thinking, but I can't know for sure without looking at it up close, and they aren't just going to let us take it out and mess with it." She looked around, trying to find some way to jimmy the lock without activating any kind of alarm. As she was about to use a hairpin, Dean stopped her quickly.

"Look," he said, pointing out a near invisible laser. "They've got it guarded pretty tight. That's a lot of hardware for a little place like this. Again, something isn't right, don't you think?"

"Definitely too high tech for a one horse town like this," she agreed. "We need to get into that case though, I have a strong feeling that whatever happens here, that challis is going to be a serious part of it." She heard the click of shoes on the wooden floor and looked in their direction as the woman that had been sitting at the desk at the entrance approached.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Officer?" she directed at Dean. When he gave her a look of surprise, she gave him a brilliant smile, "Gary, the deputy at the Sheriff's office called and told me that we had real F.B.I. agents in town. Imagine my surprise to find you in our little museum!"

"Just checking out the local culture, Ma'am," he nodded, using his strongest charms on the woman. "Like this cup here, looks kind of interesting."

"Oh, it is," she gushed, going on to tell Dean how the challis had been a part of the original settlers in Nebraska, having come all the way from a castle in England, blessed by the Pope himself, and gifted by Queen Victoria herself."

Maria's weirdar was in overdrive as she listened to the woman talking, not sure whether the woman actually believed everything that she was saying, or if it was a rehearsed piece of faked history used to get unsuspecting visitors to buy the shiny plastic replica that was displayed so prominently in the corner by the entrance that served as their gift shop.

"Really," Dean nodded as he listened to the woman's spiel, "Any chance you could let me take a peek at it? See how heavy it really is? It looks heavy, doesn't it?"

"Oh my, no!" The woman exclaimed, she had completely ignored Maria's presence. "But we have ones in the gift shop that you can take home with you." She actually blushed to Maria's dismay, "It's not heavy, but it is shiny." She glanced at the original challis, "That one is so beautiful, I wish we could have it restored."

Dean nodded, "You know, I know someone that could do that for you. Wouldn't cost you a thing. It would be a gift from Uncle Sam."

Maria nearly choked at that, giving Dean a look that said she'd meet him outside. "I wish we could do that, but the family that donated it to the museum did so under the condition that it would never be touched, other than by a direct descendant of the family." She shrugged, "A little strange, but as long as the family is alive and living in Union, the museum will honor that arrangement."

Dean's ears perked a little at that, "The family still lives here? All the way back to the original settlers?" He was a little intrigued by that, it was possibly the first real lead they had.

"Oh, yes," she said with pride. "The Cannon family."

"The Cannon family, huh?" He mused, then asked, "Where could I find this family?"

The woman smiled, pleased to be able to offer more information to the handsome agent, "Elizabeth Cannon is the secretary at the church, her husband Robert passed away a couple years back, but they have a son, Robbie. He just turned sixteen." She sighed, "Those kids just grow up so fast, don't they?"

Dean nodded, and quickly found his way out of the museum, but not before being persuaded to purchase a plastic challis. When he trotted down the few steps to the area where their cars were parked, he was surprised to see Sam and Stevie waiting with Maria. "Oh, do I have something to tell you," he grinned, tossing the plastic challis to Sam, who caught it easily. "Let's go find something to eat, and see what we can put together so far."


	18. Chapter 18

Elizabeth Cannon walked into the room, the last to arrive, and took her seat at the head of the table, obvious anger in her expression as she addressed everyone, "One hundred and fifty years. We've been waiting for one hundred and fifty years for this day, and you bunch of idiots have played your parts so well that not only do we have the two, but we have two extra. I hope you realize just how much danger our plan is in. If we don't manage to fix this, we're looking at another hundred and fifty years."

"Relax, Liz," Sheriff Waller said, reaching a hand over to cover hers, which she immediately pulled back as she cast a disdainful look at this, causing him to slowly retrieve his hand.

Her eyes then landed on Helen, the extremely helpful librarian who had allowed Stevie to make a copy of a sketch that was marked as material to never be photographed or copied, "Did you even stop to think why Ms. Hilliard wanted to make a copy of that sketch? That possibly she was beginning to put the pieces together?"

Helen ducked her head, obvious remorse in the action, "You said not to hold anything back from them, to let her search through the papers and books as she wished, I was just following your orders." Though her words appeared to be strong and righteous, her voice shook as she spoke, taking away any power they held.

"Don't worry, Helen, there are enough mistakes to go around here, we're not going to focus just on you," she said, her eyes moving next to the youngest of their group. "Now, Amy, your show at the museum? Appalling. Could you not tell that the younger Hilliard was trying to get to the challis? Were you so consumed with lust over the Winchester that you forgot everything you've ever learned about them?"

Amy felt chastised, and rightly so, she believed, "He is handsome." She sighed softly, "I know that he is beneath me, but come on, there isn't a girl out there, alive or dead, that wouldn't want to have a piece of that." She paused, finding every eye on her, she lowered her own, "Sorry."

"Guilty pleasures are not something we can afford right now," Elizabeth spoke angrily, bringing her fist down to hit the table. "Two days, people! Two days, that is all we have left to get to the point that our ancestors worked so hard to get us to." She then turned her attention of the sheriff, "Did you think that practically demanding they leave town would arouse their suspicions in the least, John?" Now her eyes fell on the mayor, "And you, Jim? Are you so pious that you feel it is beneath you to follow the past set forth in motion long before your footsteps ever graced this planet?"

"Lizzie," Jim went to speak, and was immediately cut off by a glare, though he tried to continue, "Elizabeth, none of us can be sure exactly how this is supposed to go, so many of the texts were lost."

"There are enough left so that we can fulfill our destiny, and that is what you all must remember here," she said as she looked at each and every one sitting at the table before her. "This is bigger than all of us, than all of those we've lost in the process. It has taken a lot to preserve this town and its place in history, the place that we are going to give it." She leveled her eyes as she continued to speak, her voice dropping to a chilling low, "Nothing is going to stop the sacrifices we've made, nothing is going to stop us from bringing forth the truest power this world will ever know. It is not only our destiny, but our legacy. We will change this world."

After a moment of eerie silence, the mayor tentatively raised his hand. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but nodded for him to speak, "What if they fight? We were only prepared for two."

Elizabeth sighed, wondering why she was surrounded by such low intelligence. "They are powerless as they are. Two, four... it doesn't matter, we will still prevail. Until their true potential is realized, they will be powerless to stop us." She had grown tired of this talk, having a meeting scheduled with the necessary Ms. Hilliard upcoming. "Now everyone play your parts, and don't get overzealous. Let's not blow it now."

When she stood, everyone stood with her as if she were royalty and watched her leave. Once she was out the door, they all sat back down, looking at one another. Finally, John broke the silence, "Is anyone else starting to believe that this has become a little more personal for her, and that she's also leading us to the slaughter?" Everyone around him was thinking it, but he knew that he'd been the only one with the guts to voice it. And as everyone began to get up and head back out to their lives, he hoped his wasn't almost over.


	19. Chapter 19

p align="justify"They had driven a few towns over, making sure that they were far out of the ears of anyone in Union, as they were all pretty sure that there was more than one person in on the goings on around there. The food delivered to their table, they finally relaxed enough to talk about all they'd found. Dean the first to offer up what he'd found out once Maria had left the museum. "That little challis that you zoned in on" he said to Maria, "was more important that we thought. And I would be willing to sell my soul if I hadn't done that once already, that it is caked in blood soaked clay."/p  
p align="justify"Maria rolled her eyes at Dean, sighing, "I thought you had something. I already told you that." They had all went along at Dean's insistence that they leave the town before even mentioning anything that they had found out. He had really seemed to be onto something, but Maria was merely annoyed with his opening statement./p  
p align="justify"Dean huffed, jerking a thumb at Sam and Stevie. "I knew that you knew that, but they didn't." He popped a french fry into his mouth, purposely building up the suspense since Maria had so rudely ruined his build up. When he found all eyes were boring down on him, he finally relented, waving his hand in the air as if he were pushing himself forward, "So it seems that the only one who is allowed to even come in contact with the challis is a blood relation of the donating family. A family that has lived in Union for one hundred and fifty years. The Cannon family."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie's eyes met Maria's, "That was name of the woman from the church, Elizabeth Cannon." She looked at Dean, "She certainly only appeared to be your average church lady."/p  
p align="justify""Right," Dean nodded, "but we all know that looks can be more than misleading." He looked at Sam, "Did y'all find anything at the library?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam nodded, pulling out the sketch that Stevie had copied, unfolding it and smoothing it out on the table for Maria and Dean to be able to see. He asked Stevie for her magnifying glass again, holding it just right so that Dean and Maria could make out the words on the small sign in front of the church. "House of Watchers," Dean said aloud, shaking his head. "Fucking angels."/p  
p align="justify"Just as Stevie and Sam had questioned, Maria spoke up, "But which kind of fallen angels? Are we really any closer to knowing what we're doing with other than there are angels at work here. But are they Castiel's friends or Lucifer's?"/p  
p align="justify""We're going to need more information to be able to determine that," Sam began, "which is why yours and Stevie's meeting with this Cannon woman is so important. You're going to have to get her to let her guard down and give you as much information as you can. It may be our only hope of finding out how to prevent this before it all goes down."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie had sat quietly, not having even revealed to Sam earlier the other piece of knowledge she had gained from the library, not even telling Maria on the drive out of town toward this lunch. She was still trying to wrap her hand around it, but she had to let the others in, regardless of what it meant for all of them, or her alone. "There's one other thing," Stevie said quietly, avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Mount Lion House of Worship, formerly known as the House of Watchers, was created on November 17, 1864..." her words trailed off, and Sam finished for her./p  
p align="justify""One hundred and fifty years ago," he whispered. "Could this really have been planned this long, for us?" It was hard to believe something like that was possible, but they all knew that where Heaven and Hell were concerned, a hundred and fifty years was just a drop in the bucket./p  
p align="justify"Dean sighed, "Remember good old Zachariah, he did say we were earmarked long before we were even born."/p  
p align="justify"Maria rolled her eyes, "Yippi Ki Yi Yay! So the Winchesters are the bitches of Heaven and Hell, don't drag us into this shit!"/p  
p align="justify"Stevie reached over and put a hand on Maria's arm, trying to cool her sister's temper. "Something tells me that us being here has nothing to do with Sam and Dean other than they were somehow chosen as well. The signs, they've all pointed to us this time." She squeezed Maria's arm gently, "What if it's us that has brought them into this, not the other way around?" She looked over to Sam, her eyes closing slowly before opening again, "These feelings aren't Sam's alone. They are ours."/p  
p align="justify"Sam nodded, though he could feel the frustration in the youngest Hilliard. "I can only imagine how upset you are right now, Maria, but we've got to push that aside so we can get this figured out, otherwise we're liable to just end up the pawns they are wanting us to be."/p  
p align="justify"Dean brought his eyes level with Maria's, words unspoken, but the feelings behind them reaching her loud and clear. "Let's put all of the information that we have together, then prepare to go get more. We're not giving up and we're not losing anyone."/p  
p align="justify"Maria kept her eyes on Dean just that little extra moment before she began to recount the information they did have. "So this church, Mount Lion or House of Watchers, whatever, is about to celebrate its bicentennial. The challis, which we all agree it key to whatever event is going down is covered in someone or something's blood, but we can't get to it since the only one allowed to touch it is someone from Union's first family, who just happens to be the nice secretary over at the church." She glanced down at the copy of the sketch Stevie had made, her eyes lighting on the altar in the background. "Oh, and there just happens to be an altar, where sacrifices are generally made, somewhere around there? Did I miss anything?"/p  
p align="justify"Sam shook his head, "No, I don't think you did." He looked at Stevie, his expression leaning more toward affection than anything else, "I think it's very important that you two keep your appointment with this Cannon woman. If she is going to divulge anything, I do believe it's going to be to you."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie nodded, having returned Sam's look, "I agree. What are you and Dean going to do next?"/p  
p align="justify"Dean nodded to the sketch that was still laid out on the table, "I think Sam and I need to find that altar if it's still there, and if it is, see if there is a way to take it out of the equation." He turned his attention to Maria, "All things being said, you may have to take the lead with this woman. If she is somehow connected to all of this, we have no idea if she will have any kind of control over Stevie. So just be on the lookout for anything at all suspicious, even Stevie."/p  
p align="justify"Stevie wanted to balk, to tell Dean that he had no idea just who she was and how strong she could be, but one look at Sam brought back the hard hitting truth that she didn't even have control over her own emotions. As if reading her thoughts, this time Maria put a hand on her sister, "We've got it under control. You go find the altar, we'll go take care of this Cannon woman."/p 


	20. Chapter 20

The ride to the church was quiet, neither sister knowing exactly what they wanted to say, but the bond they shared was one that meant they didn't have to. The boys had headed back to their hotel, changing from their suits to jeans, though they were going to wait until the sun began to set to start looking for the altar. With the suspicions they'd already aroused, calling more attention to themselves wasn't a smart idea.

When they pulled into the church parking lot, Maria eased into a spot next to the car already there, putting the car in park, but not yet cutting the engine. "You don't have to go inside, I can do this," she told her sister, wanting to do as much as she could.

Stevie shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I don't like being toyed with any more than you do, and if this woman has answers as to why they want Sam and I together, I need them. I've been going over this in my head, over and over, and I cannot place how it would be Sam and I. Sam's been the vessel for Lucifer, so what does that make me? The bride of Hell?" She shook her head, "No, it's not that. But why not Dean? He was Heaven's go to boy, so if this is Heaven's turf, why not Dean? Why not you? I've been possessed before, but you haven't. So why not you and Dean? If it's Sam and me, it just makes me wonder if it's Hell that's fighting for us."

Maria gave her sister a soft smile, knowing that there were times when Stevie Hilliard let her imagination run wild, and while her thoughts may not be far from the truth, she knew that going into the meeting, she needed her sister at one hundred percent. "Remember, it doesn't matter who wants what, other than us, okay? No matter what they want, there is no way they can make Sam and Dean, nor me and you, do anything we don't want to." She cut the engine, "Now let's go figure out how to end this nightmare."

Stevie nodded, opening her door but not before she gave her sister a grateful smile. If there was one thing to learn in all of this, it was the value of family, and she had that in spades. She met her sister at the front of the car, slipping her arm through hers as they walked to the church door, not at all surprised when it opened as they approached, Mrs. Cannon smiling down at them, "Well now, aren't you two the picture of sisterly love? Come on in and let me see how I can help you."

Maria and Stevie both smiled up at her as they ascended the few steps into the church, a small office straight off to the left of the door, a long hallway stretching out before them, even appearing to be longer than possible. "It's so kind of you to help us out," Maria smiled, ever the charmer when she needed to be. "My sister hasn't been able to stop talking about this place since we passed by earlier."

Mrs. Cannon walked behind a desk, and gestured to two chairs in front, "Please have a seat, and I'll answer anything I can." Her smile, though it appeared to be genuine held something in it that Stevie couldn't quite place, it almost seemed as if she was trying to size her up.

"How old is the church?" Stevie asked, still not comfortable under her gaze, but refusing to show it. "The structure looks as if it's been updated over the years."

Mrs. Cannon looked at Stevie with delight, "How right you are!" She sat back in her chair, her obvious love for the building coming through in her every movement. "This building has been added onto several times over the years, in fact, the room we're sitting in right now at one time was the sanctuary for the original building," she told them as they looked around, feeling like the room couldn't have held many parishioners at all. She continued, taking in their expressions, "You'd be surprised, they say that up to twenty of the congregation worshiped together in this very room."

"So when was the first addition?" Maria asked as Stevie followed up by asking who had started the church initially. Mrs. Cannon laughed easily at their tumbling over each other.

"Such little eager beavers, aren't you? I promise, we'll get to everything in due time," she stood then, walking around the desk. "Why don't I show you girls around and we can talk as you see the history of Mount Lion."

The girls stood to follow Mrs. Cannon out when Stevie took the opportunity to try for more information, "Has it always been called Mount Lion?"

Mrs. Cannon smiled sweetly as she led the girls out, locking the office door behind them, "Why yes, whatever else could it be?" She smiled again as Stevie shrugged, leading them down the long hallway, stopping abruptly at an open door. "Would you like to see in here? It's where the pastor receives his message for the sermon," she asked, a chill running over their skin, both Stevie and Maria trying to find a way to search the church without the watchful eye of Mrs. Cannon.

Maria nodded, "What do you mean receives his message? Like a voice mail from God?" Stevie elbowed her lightly, her face showing pure innocence, though both knew better.

"Heavens no," Mrs. Cannon laughed, although forced, "Pastor Avery will come in here and meditate, the holy spirit leading him to the message he wants him to preach."

Stevie moved into the room, the cold feeling much stronger once inside the room, a trace of uneasiness beginning to take over completely. It was almost a feeling of complete and utter despair, as if all life had been sucked out of the room, and it was now feeding off of her. She felt near hopeless until Maria reached in and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the room.

Mrs. Cannon hid the smile that her reaction caused, "Oh my, girls, I almost forgot, I promised my son that I would give him a driving lesson today, and the time has almost gotten away from me. I hope I was able to answer some of your questions."

Stevie, still unable to speak as she tried to push past the feelings that had overwhelmed her in that room, simply nodded, while Maria thanked her. As Mrs. Cannon led them out of the church, she smiled as they walked down the steps, "You two should stay for a day or two, really get to know the town and the church. I'm sure that it will make it to the top of your list of most interesting churches."


	21. Chapter 21

Stevie and Maria left the church, the eerie feeling still with them as they headed down the road toward the hotel, Maria pulling over to the side after a few minutes. She put the car in park without saying a word, knowing what they needed to do, but honestly scared of letting her sister anywhere near that room again. This could possibly be the most scared she'd ever been though she would never let on, one thing she learned from Stevie, perfecting it even better.

A few minutes of sitting in silence, and Stevie spoke softly, though there was no room for argument in her voice, "We have to go back. She's leaving and we have to search that church. You know that."

Maria nodded, but it didn't change the fact that she wanted her sister nowhere near there, "She is one freaky woman, that's for sure." She sighed, putting the car back in drive, turning around and heading back toward the church. She drove back the way they came, stopping on a small trail barely wide enough to drive the car down. It wouldn't do well to park in front of the church while they were letting themselves in uninvited.

They walked through the woods the short distance, Stevie pulling up short before they exited out into the open, bringing a finger to her lips before pointing to the church where several cars were now parked beside the church lady's. Stevie looked to her sister, her eyes mirroring her own thoughts, they hadn't been gone that long, yet there was obviously some urgency as one more car pulled into the parking lot, a man hurrying into the building, looking around before ducking inside.

"Yeah, that wasn't weird at all," Maria whispered, then nodded toward the back of the church. "We can skirt the woods, then come out behind the church, it will give us the most cover."

Stevie nodded and the two started moving as quickly and quietly as they could through the underbrush, making their way around toward the back of the building, about to step into the clearing once more when they heard voices out in the distance, seeming to be coming from around the corner.

"There is too much at stake here, we can't let them leave. We can't guarantee they'll come back," a male voice spoke as the girls tried to quietly make their way around, the setting sun making it easier to conceal themselves in the woods.

"The pull is too great, they won't be able to refuse it. If you could have seen her in the library, she will not leave until she fulfills her destiny," a woman spoke, the voice Stevie remembered when she'd gotten assistance copying the sketch.

"And what of the other?" The male voice inquired, but before an answer could be heard, they were summoned back into the building by a voice they didn't recognize. They waited just a moment before stepping out of the woods, and moving quickly to the building, trying to stay out of eyesight from the windows.

"Well, if there was any doubt that it was you and Sam, there isn't now," Maria whispered as they flattened themselves against the side of the church, barely able to make out voices inside though they weren't loud enough to hear what they were saying. "We really need to get inside that church," Maria sighed, a little frustrated in the moment.

"They is no way we're getting in there while they're here, we'd do better to come back after dark," Stevie said, catching Maria's look toward the setting sun and rolling her eyes. "And after all the cars are gone," she added.

This time it was Maria who rolled her eyes, "If you don't want to stick around and see what we can find out, then why are you out here playing hide and seek? Stevie, I know you. And this isn't like you at all. You've taken more risks than anyone else I know, so why the sudden desire to stand back and let the chips fall where they may?"

Stevie glared at her sister, her voice having raised above a whisper, the noise inside instantly quiet, without skipping a beat, she pulled her sister forward and they were concealed in the woods before the door opened, the woman from the museum looking around, even appearing to stare right out them, before slowly stepping back inside and closing the door. "That was close," she whispered, then sighed.

They moved deeper into the woods, Maria suddenly stopping and grabbing Stevie's arm. "What is it? Why are you so determined to run away?"

"I'm not running, Maria, but we can't go into that church when they are there. Whatever they're planning, whatever it is that has been set in motion, we can't stop it without knowing all we can. And running into a burning building is only going to get us burned," Stevie spoke, a hint of despair in her voice.

Maria shook her head, "No, there's something more. I felt it when you were in that room. I felt like... I was losing you."

Stevie gave her sister a small smile, "But you didn't. Let's go find Sam and Dean and see if they've uncovered anything more."

Maria nodded, but she could feel that Stevie was holding something back, and it was a feeling she didn't like at all. It had been a long time since there had been secrets between the two, and it wasn't something that Maria intended to let start happening. She would give her sister a little time to come to her, but time was precious as her birthday was on the horizon. There was definitely something at work here, she could feel it in her bones, and as much as Stevie may be trying to deny it, it had her rattled.


	22. Chapter 22

Sam and Dean had headed back to the motel after their lunch with the girls, but as they were changing a deputy sheriff's car had pulled into the parking lot. The officer did not get out, instead sitting in the car, letting it idle. They were several miles out of town, so sneaking out the back to go check out the woods behind the church wasn't going to be as easy as it seemed. While Dean had decided to simply wait them out, Sam had begun pacing once his third call to Stevie had went unanswered.

"What if they're in trouble, Dean?" He asked as he looked out the window for the fifth time in as many minutes.

"They're big girls, Sam, they can take care of themselves. Believe it or not, but I don't think that Stevie needs you to rush to her rescue." Dean had laid back on the bed, his arms folded behind his head, trying to catch a little sleep knowing that the next thirty-six hours were going to take everything they had if they weren't able to come up with some kind of solution soon.

"She may not need me to rush to her rescue, but that doesn't mean that they don't need our help," Sam practically growled at his older brother, once more looking out the window trying his best to make the deputy leave by sheer will alone.

"Look, Sam," Dean started, sitting up as he tried to reason with him, "If they needed us, they would call. You have to know that. And if for any reason they can't, we'll know as soon as the soon goes down. Then we'll go find them."

"And what if it's too late?" He asked, something akin to guilt in his voice.

"It won't be. We still have time, Sam, they are not going to make their move until Stevie's birthday," he answered, sensing the guilt in Sam's voice. "Sam, you're not responsible for her. She's not an innocent for you to protect."

"Isn't she? We brought them here. We asked them to come," he reminded his brother.

"And Cas told you that it had already been set in motion," Dean replied, wondering where their angel friend had been and why he had seemed to leave them with nothing to go on other than knowing that once more, a battle between Heaven and Hell was going to take place with them in the middle.

Sam was about to reply when his cell phone rang just as the sun was making its way below the horizon, his breath caught as he saw it was Stevie calling, only hoping that she was okay. "Stevie," he breathed out her name, closing his eyes with relief when she spoke easily, apologizing for missing his calls. "As long as you are alright," he told her then went on to tell her about the deputy watching them in the parking lot, making their trip out to the church impossible at the moment.

Maria suggested that she and Stevie head back and see what they could find on their own, but Sam had been adamant that they pick him and Dean up down the road from the motel. He had told them they would slip out the back, and skirt around the motel meeting them about a half a mile away. With all their gear in the trunk of the Impala, and no way to get to it, they'd have to rely on what Dean had stored in Maria's car along with what she already had.

As the motel lights came into view, Maria flashed her lights and Sam and Dean stepped out into the road. As she came to a stop, Stevie crawled into the backseat, Dean joining her giving Sam the front seat so his knees weren't pushed up to his shoulders, not that Dean was much smaller. Maria then cut her lights as she made the U-turn, waiting until she was headed in the direction of the church once more before clicking them back on.

"There's a road just short of the church, it's a bit grown over, but it makes for perfect cover for the car," Maria told the boys as she sped down the highway. "We'll have to make our way through the woods a piece, but it's not bad. Stevie and I did it during the day easily."

"Did you find out anything," Dean asked, trying to get comfortable for the short ride. One thing he could say about the Impala was that it had a nice sized back seat.

"Not much," Stevie said, then filled them in on the room inside the church and then the brush off followed by a meeting of some sort. "One of them, the one from the library, said I would be drawn to fulfill my destiny, whatever in the hell that is."

Sam looked back at her, a look of concern, prompting Maria to add, "And she mentioned you, too." As she began to slow the car down to make the turn, she cut her lights once more. It wouldn't do for anyone to see the car move down the road and then just stop. "You two really need to fight this," she said adamantly, "I'm not losing my sister."

"I promise you won't," Sam said, turning his head to look at Dean, reaffirming what he'd told him as they'd headed into town, that Stevie would not die. Not tonight, tomorrow night, or any night where he was there to stop it. What he felt may be pushed upon him by some supernatural force, but at the heart of Sam Winchester was a good man, a man that would fight Heaven and Hell to protect anyone who deserved to be protected, and one thing he knew deep down was that regardless of the situation, that maybe his romantic emotions were exaggerated or false altogether, but the heart of Stevie Hilliard was gold. He knew all too well what it was like to lose a sibling and to what ends you would go to just to bring them back. Maria would not find that out, not if there was one single hope that he could prevent it. Looking at Dean, he knew he would bet on Winchester everything single time.


	23. Chapter 23

Gathering what they could from the Challenger's trunk, the four headed out into the woods, the girls' earlier trek making it a little easier in the dark. They skirted around the church, even though it appeared in the small amount of time that they had been gone, the cars had cleared out. It almost seemed convenient, but no one wanted to admit it.

Once they were behind the church, they branched out, each moving a small distance apart to cover more ground, their flashlights just bright enough to illuminate the area around them. It wasn't long before Stevie gasped, having nearly run into the altar as she all but stumbled into the small clearing surrounding it, immediately joined by Sam, who grabbed her to keep her from actually falling into the near immaculate stone.

"Hey," he said, pulling her up, both of their eyes glued to what had obviously been a well kept sanctuary, however small the area surrounding it.

"Oh my God," Maria whispered as she joined the two, followed soon after by Dean, who also stopped short when he saw the pristine condition in which the altar appeared.

"This has not been left to the overgrown woods," Dean remarked the obvious, jerking his head a little to the left. "There are remnants of the old church not far over, and it looks like someone has been cleaning up around it. Almost..." his words trailed off, but each of them knew exactly what he meant. Someone had been preparing for an upcoming ceremony, and one that included Sam and Stevie as the guests of honor.

"Look at these carvings," Stevie near whispered as she knelt down on the ground, running her fingers over them. "They're so detailed," she spoke, shining her light as the carvings seem to follow the life cycle from birth to adolescence, marriage, childbirth and even ending in death. She swallowed hard, not sure what to make of it.

"Maybe this is why they believe that we'll create a child," Sam wondered aloud.

Stevie looked up at him, a slightly mischievous smile on her lips, once more trying to mask her fear with humor, "There will be no baby creating on this thing, it's solid stone, do you have any idea how uncomfortable that would be?"

Sam gave her a reassuring grin, though Maria didn't find the humor in it at all, knowing exactly what her sister was doing, "'Vie, don't." She looked at Sam and Dean both, knowing that her sister was not at one hundred percent, and hadn't been since she'd walked into that room. "Is there any way we can destroy this? If we could get rid of the altar, maybe they wouldn't be able to perform their ritual?"

Dean mulled this over, shaking his head, "Right now, I don't know if we can. We need to get Cas down here and help us. If anyone would know how to demolish this thing, it would be him." Though no one said it, they were all thinking that any other time, back before they lost him, this would be when they called Bobby. Not only was he a father figure for the four of them in some way, shape or form, but he had been one of the best researchers out there, not even needing the internet to get his information.

"Well, if no one else is going to try, I guess I will," Maria huffed, looking up to the sky. "Castiel? Oh, Castiel, we could use some serious help down here. Stevie is about to jump Sam's bones and he's ready to let her, so if you could please just come down here I'd really appreciate it."

Both Sam and Stevie were about to object, when Dean cut them off, "I'm with Maria, Cas, get your angel ass down here and help us figure out how to stop this." He then sighed, adding, "Please."

Sam looked at both Maria and Dean, shaking his head, "While I appreciate the fact that you guys are so worried about Stevie and I hooking up, I think we have this under control. Our time would be better spent trying to figure out how to stop this sacrifice that is coming, don't you think?"

Maria's temper ignited, "Sam Winchester, I do not know who you think you are or how you think you know my sister better than I do, but she is not doing well. I don't give a fuck whether you think that you can refrain or not, Stevie has never been like this. Not once. So if I want to beg Castiel to come save her, I will."

"Maria," Sam began, but was cut off by Stevie, her own temper flaring, obviously a Hilliard trait.

"Maria, I love you more than anything in this world, but I swear to you when the time comes that I can't take care of myself, I will let you know. Please do not attack Sam, he doesn't deserve it and you know it. These people, or things, or whatever in the hell they are, they are the ones making us feel this way, and I don't just mean Sam and I. I think they're trying to separate us, to push us apart and keep us off balance. If they can turn you and me, and Sam and Dean against each other, and even you and Sam, then half the battle is already won. Just like they apparently want Sam and I together, they may want you and Dean nowhere near."

Dean thought about this for a minute, then shook his head, "I haven't felt the least bit angry with Sam. You know, no more than usual."

Sam nodded, "I agree with Dean. I got frustrated with him at the hotel, but that's nothing new. We're brothers, we disagree."

Maria looked at both of them, thinking on what Stevie had said, and she did start to agree with Stevie to a point. She had been a little on edge with her, but under the circumstances she wasn't sure that she was ready to believe that it was anything more than what would be normal. She sighed, "'Vie, I know you think you're okay, but you have to remember I've had your back for years, and it's never been this shaky. You know I love you, but I don't even know if I would trust you to have mine right now."

Stevie's eyes were filled with hurt, something she wasn't used to when it came to Maria. She had always taken care of her sister, never once faltering. She had meant it when she'd told her that she would let her know if she wasn't good to go, and now maybe she wasn't knowing that Maria felt that way. "I'm heading back to the car," she said, her voice not shaking, but showing the sting that Maria's words had caused.

Maria sighed as she watched her sister go, that alone cementing her feelings that Stevie wasn't on top of her game as there was more they should do, more they should look at where the altar and old church was concerned. She could tell that Sam was torn, he wanted to go after her, but he, too, knew there was more that they could learn at the site. "Just let her go, she'll hopefully do her process thing. We need to do more searching around here and I want pictures of this altar," she said as she took her phone out to start snapping pictures. "Maybe we should get some of the old church as well."

Sam sighed as he looked after Stevie one more time, "I'll go get the pictures, Dean you stay here and help Maria. Let's get this done as fast as possible."


	24. Chapter 24

Stevie wasn't sure what she hoped to accomplish when she'd started out on her own, back down to the car, but she had felt propelled to go, spurred on by Maria's words, wondering if maybe there really was some truth to them. As she followed the edge of the woods, making her way back to the trail they'd made before to cross over to the car, she realized that now would be a good time to check out the church without anyone there. Slipping out of the woods and using the shadows, she ended up at the door they'd entered that day, but found the lock would be too hard to try and pick. Moving around the church, she checked out the lock on the door where they'd seen the people talking earlier, it's lock much more manageable.

It didn't take much time at all for her to pick the lock, grateful that she'd gotten used to carrying her picks in her back pocket, never knowing when she would need them to gain entry. Once the door was open, she slipped inside, closing the door quietly, though it appeared no one was there, you could never be certain.

She found herself in a kitchen, the hum of the refrigerator almost comforting as she moved through the room, the light from the moonlight streaming in the window helping her navigate around the island to get to the door. Once inside the hallway she stopped, listening for any signs that she was not alone. After a few minutes, she switched on her flashlight, illuminating the hallway, deciding to head away from where she'd been earlier that day to see what else there was to see, although she knew that she was going to have to check that room out again. She knew in her mind that after the way it affected her that day she shouldn't go in alone, but it was a chance she was going to have to take.

She passed two doors that were open that only seemed to be classrooms for the children that attended the church, and at the end of the hall, the door led to the chapel, brightly adorned with tapestries honoring angels of various designs. In fact, as she looked around, Stevie was quite sure that there were more symbols of angels than there were of God himself. "So it is the fallen angels," she whispered to herself, and even though it was but a whisper, it seemed to reverberate around the room. Stevie waited a few minutes, to make sure she'd not awakened anything spiritual or human before venturing further into the room.

She walked up to the pulpit, looking at the various implements around the small altar at the front of the raised platform. She picked up a challis, and while it appeared old, it was not heavy enough to be made of any metals that would have been used long ago. She was certain it was just made to look old, more ancient than it actually was. She also found it curious that there was an ornate dagger placed by the challis, though it did appear to be much older than the challis itself. She picked it up, turning it over in her hands, shining the flashlight on it, realizing that it had the same carvings as the altar they'd found in the woods behind the church.

As much as she wanted to take it with her, she knew that to do so would alert those planning this sacrifice that she'd been in the church and possibly that they'd found the altar out back. Instead she laid it down on the altar by itself, taking a picture with her cell phone, grateful she'd chosen the one with the highest megapixel camera to make sure she got the details of the etching. She then took a picture of the challis as well to show Maria to see if it matched the one that she'd seen at the museum. There were also candelabras that had angels at their bases and she took pictures of them as well, even taking pictures of the tapestries, too. Feeling like she'd gotten all she could from the chapel, she went back out into the hallway, heading down to the room where the preacher meditated, supposedly getting his messages from God.

She moved down the hallway just as quietly as she had before, though she was quite certain there was no one else in the building with her, she couldn't be sure. She passed by the classrooms and the kitchen where she'd entered the church, passing several more classrooms before the hall made a right turn and she was in the same hallway they'd been in earlier that day. She wanted to check out the room, and would, but first she moved down to the office, only slightly disappointed that it was locked, once more taking her picks out and making quick work of it.

Inside the office, she flashed the light around quickly to make sure she didn't make too much of a disturbance that might alert anyone outside by the light in the window. She moved over to the desk, opening the drawers and finding nothing more than the usual office supplies. She moved over to the filing cabinets, which were also locked, though they were even easier than the door to get into. It was when she opened the bottom drawer that she found what she was looking for, her eyes widening at the labels on two certain files. Hilliard. Winchester. She knew that she didn't have much time, and as much as she didn't want them to know she'd been there, she took the files with her. Whatever they had on them, she needed to know.

Heading back down the hall, Stevie stopped at the room that had made her so uneasy earlier today, but now, she reasoned, she knew what to expect, and she needed to look around that room. Opening the door slowly, she felt almost propelled to go inside, as if something was forcefully pulling her in. She shined the flashlight around the room, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, but the feeling of hopelessness and despair felt even stronger than earlier. She closed her eyes, trying to fight the feeling, trying to force her limbs to take her out of the room, but they would not obey her will. She began to sink to the ground, dropping the files in her hand as she tried to reach her phone, somehow managing to press the speed dial. When the phone connected, she heard the panic in Maria's voice, "Stevie, where in the hell are you?"

Feeling as if she were almost disappearing, Stevie managed but two words, "Maria...help..."


	25. Chapter 25

As soon as Maria got the words out, frustrated at her sister for not being at the car, she heard her near whispered words, her heart hitting her stomach instantly. "Where are you?" she nearly screamed, her voice already shaking with the fear of losing her sister. "'Vie! 'Vie! Talk to me!" she cried, her heart pounding as the fear tried to take over. She closed her eyes as no more words came from her sister, taking five seconds to let the fear in before pushing it out, clearing her mind so that she could work at her best.

Sam and Dean were both on alert, looking to her for answers as to what had just happened, when she started checking around the car, talking at the same time, "Stevie's in trouble, I don't think anyone has her, but she needs help."

"Where in the hell is she?" Dean asked, looking at his brother whose eyes matched Maria's only seconds before.

"I don't know, but she hasn't been back here," Maria said, noting no extra footprints that could have been Stevie's return trip. She took a moment to think, remembering how Stevie had wanted to wait and check out the church after dark. Heading back into the woods to cross over to the church, she called to the Winchesters to follow her, letting them know she was quite certain that her sister was in the church, and also sure she knew exactly where.

The boys following Maria's lead, raced up to the church, Maria trying the door they'd went in earlier that day, finding it locked, she started to move around the building when Sam kicked the door in, not caring whether it was obvious someone had broken in. Moving into the hallway, Maria was down to the room in mere seconds, yelling for Sam to stay back, fearful he would be affected just as Stevie had been. Racing into the room, she felt the uneasiness, but she was back out before she could take two breaths as Dean had raced in behind her, picking Stevie up and carrying her out the room.

Maria was checking out her sister, who Dean transferred to Sam's arms. "Get her out of here," he near growled, going back into the room and shining his light, picking her phone up and finding the folders, gathering them up as he then ran back down the hall, catching up to Sam and Maria as they hit the woods.

"Be careful," Maria hissed as Sam tried to hurry through the woods with Stevie in his arms, her body prone, almost feeling lifeless. Once they made it to the car, Dean scrambled into the backseat while Sam handed him Stevie, quickly getting in the car before Maria could speed off.

"We can't take her to the hospital, they'll alert the watchers and we'll lose whatever time we have left to stop them," Dean said from the back, gently trying to bring Stevie around.

"I don't think the hospital is going to have whatever she needs anyway," Maria struggled, her breath coming a little too fast, both scared for her sister and pissed off that she could be so careless. "We're going to have to figure this out by ourselves," she said as she hit the steering wheel. "I have to drop you two off before the motel, it wouldn't go over too well for the deputy to realize you snuck out while he was watching."

"You can't carry Stevie into the room!" Sam spoke, obvious worry in his voice.

Maria nodded, "You're going to have to haul ass so I can knock on your door and get your help."

Maria cut the lights and got as close to the motel as she could without causing any suspicion, letting the boys out who took off at a run. Once they were safe in the woods, she turned her lights back on, driving as slowly as she could to give them time to get to their room. She was silently praying for her sister, sending up more calls for Castiel as she pulled into the parking lot, passing right by the deputy, still parked outside. She sat in the car a few minutes, pretending to mess with stuff in her glove box until she saw the shadows moving in Sam and Dean's room, then got out, casually walking to their room and knocking, making a show of asking for help for the deputy, who had rolled down his window to hear the conversation.

She told Sam that Stevie had gotten sick after eating something, and asked if he could come out to the car and get her. While he was getting her out of the car, Maria opened the room, Sam bringing in Stevie with Dean following. Dean pulled the blackout curtains, effectively blocking the officer's view while Sam laid Stevie on the bed. Maria had already gotten a wet cloth from the bathroom and began to wipe Stevie's face with it, though there had still been no signs of life coming from her other than shallow breathing and a faint heartbeat.

"God dammit, Cas, we really could use your help. It would be kinda nice if you would show up once in awhile when we call," Sam huffed in frustration.

"You know, Sam, I do have a lot more going on than the four of you," Castiel spoke, then looked at Stevie. "What happened to her," he asked as he walked over to her where she lay on the bed.

"She went into the room. I don't know exactly what happened, but earlier it just gave me a bad feeling and Stevie was like, stuck. I had to pull her out. Like an idiot she went in there by herself. Can you heal her?" Maria explained, while her eyes filled with hope. If anyone could fix Stevie, it would be Castiel.

Placing his hand over her head, Castiel sent out a healing light, his face clouding over as he finished, "She is going to need some time to come to, but she will be okay." He looked at Sam, Dean and Maria, knowing they weren't going to like his next words, "It's inevitable, it can't be stopped, at least by anything that we've found so far. I have to go back, we're still trying. Just... stay put until I get back."

"Cas, you said..." Dean started, but before he could even finish his sentence, Castiel was gone again. "I really fucking hate when he does that," Dean grumbled.


	26. Chapter 26

Maria had been pacing for awhile now, mixing it up with sitting beside Stevie and whispering to her, asking her to wake up, only hoping that while Castiel had healed her physical ailments, that maybe he'd managed to take away some of the mental as well. Whether Stevie wanted to believe it or not, she was not herself because as stubborn and brave as she could be, she would have never went into that church without backup, especially not into that room. At the very least, she would have called Maria before she went into the room, even if she was only slightly off.

While Maria was pacing, Sam and Dean sat at the small table, the folders and their contents spread out, some of it on the floor so they could see everything. Sam shook his head, "How did they get so much about us?"

Dean looked up from a report on the Maria, her elementary school records, sighing, "Man, they have everything. Maria's school records, Stevie's shot records, my arrest records and death certificate." He looked at Sam, his eyes showing complete discomfort, "Sam, they even have detailed notes on your ride as Lucifer. Everything we've ever done, in and out the business, in documented. Our whole freaking lives."

Maria stopped pacing for a moment, her eyes moving over to Dean, "How could they get all of that? What does it mean exactly?"

"Basically," Dean began, his eyes still roaming over the information that documented all of their lives, "I think what Sam said earlier is right, this was set in motion long before we even knew how real Heaven and Hell was."

Sam got up, moving to sit beside Stevie on the bed, brushing her hair away from her face, finding at least a small amount of comfort in just how peaceful she looked, like the stress and strain of the last few days had disappeared. "To think, that Stevie and I had been planned before we were even born," he said softly, still not quite how that affected what was real and what was not. "It just doesn't seem right, but I wish you guys could understand how right it feels."

Maria, only just slightly guilty for how hard she'd attacked Sam earlier, sat down on the opposite side of her sister, looking at Sam as she spoke, "I know you believe what you feel, and I know that Stevie does, too, but you have to look at it from our perspective. My sister hasn't so much as shown an ounce of interest in any man since Brian. This life we've led has been to honor him, and our family, so for Stevie to just drop that, for her to suddenly side with you over me? I'm sorry, Sam, but that is just not my sister. I don't care how much she could ever love you, blood is blood."

Dean raised a brow at her, "Wasn't it you that quoted Bobby to me? Family don't end in blood, Idjit?"

Maria did not like her words being thrown back at her, or anyone else's for that matter, but she had to admit that Dean did have a point, "I know what I said, and I know what it means, but you both know that this is different. Sam and Stevie have known each other for days. Days. You both know that whatever they're feeling, while it may have a little of it's own merit, it's not real. And just yesterday you both believed that, too."

Sam sighed, fighting an inner battle to simply reach out and touch Stevie's hand, her face, just to touch her period, but he knew that what Maria said was filled with truth. Just looking at Stevie, just knowing that she was there, with him, it seemed to mean the world to him. He raised his eyes to look at Maria, "I know, and I know how you feel, and I know that this feeling inside, this pure desire to care for her, to watch out for her, to protect her, may not be all my own, but I have to believe that somewhere, some of it is real. This is too powerful to be completely make believe."

"Sam," Dean began, standing up and moving to the end of the bed, needing to stretch his legs a little, "I'm going with Maria on this one. It's been days, these things don't happen in days. You know that. Listen to your brain, little brother, not your heart. It may just get you killed. Or worse."

Sam nodded, waging his own war inside his head and heart, wanting nothing more than to know what was real, and what wasn't, and even though his brain told him that both Dean and Maria were right, that they really were the ones thinking clearly right now, it was hard to turn off his heart and look at Stevie as no more than any other person.

Nothing was said for a few minutes, no one moving as they all looked on at Stevie, wondering if there was going to be any way to save her, or if Castiel's words would come true, that there was no way to save her, or Sam, that it was inevitable, nothing could stop their coming fate. As the silence drug out, it was Sam that first noticed the movement in Stevie's eyes, alerting Maria that maybe her sister was finally coming around. "Stevie," Maria near whispered, "Come on, 'Vie, it would be nice to have you back."

Eyes fluttering open, blinking several times, then closing shut as she brought her hand to her head, Stevie croaked, "God, I feel like shit."


	27. Chapter 27

Maria immediately hugged her sister, causing another groan, but a slight smile from Stevie, and before she could verbally admonish her for being so reckless, Maria went over every part of her, checking to make sure that every thing worked, that she knew who she was and had forgotten nothing. Getting her some Tylenol for her residual pain, while Sam helped her to sit up, propping pillows behind her back. "You know," Maria began and Stevie waved her off, after taking the medicine she'd offered.

"Trust me, Mare, I know that I was an idiot, but once I was near that altar, it was like my whole prospective was altered and I wasn't myself. And once inside the church, while I was able to check out the other rooms, I knew that I couldn't leave without checking out the preacher's meditation room. I was so drawn in, but as soon as I walked in, I knew I had screwed up. All the life was draining out of me, I was barely able to get to my phone and call you. I honestly thought I might die," Stevie finished, her sister immediately feeling better with Stevie finally seeming to be more like herself, admitting that she had been influenced by something other than herself.

"At least you know you weren't thinking clearly," Dean said, back in his chair at the table.

Sam got up, not sure where he should be in this moment, wanting to stay near her, but her words making him realize that she was back on track, that she was stronger, and now he'd wished Castiel had taken this feeling away from him, because it was driving him crazy to know that he now was alone. He looked at Stevie, giving her a half smile, "How about something to eat? I could go get some take out? Anything you want?"

Both Stevie and Maria gave him a grateful smile, Stevie speaking up as she nodded, "Do you think you could find a pizza place around here? I would love an all meat pizza and I know Maria would love a cheese pizza. Maria give him some money, will you? There's some in my bag if you don't have any."

Maria nodded even though Sam tried to decline, but Maria would have nothing of it. Both of the girls knew that the boys had no steady income whereas they did and she didn't feel it was fair to make them buy dinner when they could cover it. "Extra, extra cheese, please?" she asked, honestly grateful for time alone with her sister because she knew that there was no way Dean was letting his brother leave alone.

"I'll go with you, Sammy," Dean said, just as Maria predicted, "Give the girls a little time alone to do whatever it is that sisters do when they're alone."

Stevie smiled at him, "Probably cuddling, right now." She looked at Maria, knowing how much she'd upset her sister earlier, "And maybe a lot of groveling."

Maria laughed at her, "I think it should be a lot of groveling." She then looked to Sam and Dean, "Be careful, please. One scare a night is enough."

The boys left and Maria looked at her sister, "Want something to drink?" When Stevie nodded, Maria walked down to the vending machines, grabbing her sister a diet coke and herself a sprite. Not sure how much had been taken from her, she also got a couple of chocolate bars. When she got back to the room, she found Stevie had managed to get up and walked to the back of the room, leaning over the sink, splashing water on her face, looking up in the mirror.

"I look old," Stevie said tiredly, "If you don't mind, I think I'll shower while Sam and Dean are gone."

Maria told her to go ahead, that she'd be there if she needed, just to call out. While Maria sat down and waited for her sister, Stevie slowly got into the shower, letting the hot water stream down, relaxing her tense muscles. She closed her eyes after a minute, slipping down into the tub, just letting the water continue to soak her skin and hair, breathing in and out letting the feelings that had corrupted her mind and body seep out of her until she felt somewhat better and a little more like herself. She didn't realize how long she'd been in the shower until she heard Sam's voice in the room, sighing softly, knowing that Maria had wanted some time alone with her, and thinking that she also needed some time alone with her sister. Painfully slow, she reached up and turned off the water, Maria having told her that Castiel had brought her back from whatever had happened to her, wondering if he had healed her, why she was still so sore and achy, her mind still a little foggy.

Wrapping herself in a towel, she opened the door, calling out to Maria to bring her some pajamas, feeling like the last thing she needed to do was walk in front of Sam barely covered. Once Maria had given her some clothes to put on, she made quick work of it, then wrapping the towel around her wet hair and stepping out into the room. She looked at Sam and knew that he still felt the pull that was between them. "The pizza smells amazing," she said as she sat on the side of the bed closest to the table.

Sam handed her a piece of the all meat pizza on a napkin, and she took a bite, the food tasting so good as she realized just how ravenous she really was. "Oh God," she mumbled through the extra cheese, this could possibly be the best pizza I've ever had."

Maria shook her head at this, thinking that while it was pretty good, they'd had better, especially on a hunt that had taken them to Chicago. "Whatever that room did to you must have altered your taste buds, 'Vie," Maria chuckled, taking another bite of her cheese pizza, raising a brow when Sam took a piece of the cheese pizza as well. "A growing boy like you, I'd think you'd go for the meat."

Dean smirked at Maria, "If he grows any more, he'll never fit in the car. We already have to fold him up like an accordion to get him in there."

Stevie actually giggled a little as Sam rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, you, two. You're so funny." A look at Maria and Dean and he knew that they wanted to talk with Stevie now, find out more of what happened, but he gave the slightest shake of his head. He thought she should eat and relax before they began to interrogate her and when Maria gave him a slight nod, he knew that she agreed.


	28. Chapter 28

The night was getting late, and everyone knew that nothing else was going to get done that night, so Sam and Dean returned to their own room, leaving the questioning of Stevie for the next day, though she had given her phone to Sam to look at the pictures she'd taken and see what he could find out. Maria shut and locked the door, even going so far as to put one of the chairs angled against the doorknob for extra protection. Once done with checking any possible entrance into the room, she went back to Stevie's bed, sitting beside her sister who she admittedly did look a little worse for wear.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maria asked and Stevie just looked at her, a small sigh escaping. She knew that Maria wanted to, but she wasn't sure she could describe how she felt that night.

"It's going to sound a little funny," she told her sister, knowing there was no actual humor in the events of the night, "But I knew when I stepped into that room, that the only one who could save me was you."

"I knew where you were, I figured that part out, but it was Dean who got you out of there. I went in, telling Sam to stay out because I assumed it would affect him just as it did you, but the uneasiness of being in that room was incredible. I couldn't wait to get out. I don't think I've ever seen anyone more as fast as Dean did getting you out of that room," Maria admitted. While she'd love to take the credit for solely saving her sister, it had been teamwork, and there was no way she wouldn't let her sister in on that.

"Was Sam affected at all? By the altar? The church?" Stevie asked, still trying to figure out what had happened to her, and exactly why.

"I don't think so," Maria told her, going on to explain, "He didn't seem affected by the altar at all. And when we went into the church, like I said I warned him, so he didn't go near the room. The only one affected tonight was you." Maria was wondering about that, why it had only been Stevie when her sister broke her concentration.

"Did anyone else touch the altar?" She asked, remembering how she'd run her fingers over the carvings of the altar as well as the dagger she'd found in the church itself. When Maria affirmed what she'd thought, that she had been the only one to touch it, she was sure she'd at least solved part of the mystery. "I think my touching that altar started something. Or maybe the dagger in the church. Either one or both."

Maria nodded, settling in beside her sister, leaning her head on her shoulder, "I think you're right. I think that we really need to stay away from that altar, 'Vie. I think, for once, we need to listen to Cas and stay put. I don't think any of us should leave these rooms unless we're headed out of town."

Stevie shook her head slightly, her mind seeming to work overtime now that she'd eaten and been able to relax and recuperate for a little while. "You know we can't leave, if we do they may have some back up plan that will use two other people, probably innocents, and we can't do that. We can't let them do that." Stevie sighed, her inner voice angry with herself for not thinking ahead when she'd been in that office, looking at those files. "There were more files in that drawer, and for the life of me, I can't remember what any of them were. I just saw ours, and that was all I could focus on. What if there were files of others, and I just left them there? We have no way of knowing who they could be, no way of figuring out how to save them."

Maria knew in her heart that she should be worried about anyone else that may get dragged into this hell, but the truth of the matter was that all she could concentrate on was making sure that her sister was not one of them. She didn't care what she had to do to save her, but she would pull out all of the stops, make any deal she had to, with angels or demons, to make sure that Stevie lived to see her 27th birthday, as well as her 28th and more. "We can talk about that tomorrow, with Sam and Dean, I don't want you to worry about that right now. I need you to rest. You need to be your amazing self tomorrow, not some shell that you've seemed to be today."

Stevie nodded, knowing that like usual lately, her sister was right. She watched as Maria got up and quickly showered, coming back into the room in her own pajamas, turning out the lights so they could both sleep. She hoped that she could sleep, but if she were honest with herself, she simply didn't see it happening, though she would try.

Maria slipped under the covers of her bed, watching her sister pretend to sleep, hoping that she would eventually find the rest she needed. She wanted to stay up, to make sure that her sister did finally sleep, but the events of the day had worn on her, the scare of nearly losing her sister, her last family left on this earth, had taken it's toll. It didn't take long before she was out, sleeping though her mind was full of dreams and nightmares, going from one to the other, a restless sleep indeed.


	29. Chapter 29

Once Sam and Dean had gotten back to their room, Sam had buried himself at his laptop, searching every database he could looking for information on what they'd found at the clearing as well as the pictures that Stevie had taken at the church. He had connected her phone to his computer, downloading all of the pictures to be able to look at them in greater detail than that on the small phone screen. Dean had hit up the vending machines, picking up a couple of soft drinks and getting some candy as well. When he made it back to the room, waving to the deputy that sat in the parking lot, the same one that had followed them all the way to the pizza place and back, he frowned as he looked at Sam, almost as if he were on a mission that no one could complete but him.

"Dude, you need to give it a rest. We should get some sleep. God only knows what is going to happen tomorrow and it would be better if we weren't dead on our feet, you know?"

"There is something here, Dean, I know it. I just have to find it," Sam said, his eyes never leaving his computer while he tried every search he knew and even some Hail Mary's he attempted.

"Just don't stay up all night," Dean sighed, laying down on the bed, turning the TV on and finding nothing but late night reruns. He decided on an old western, his hands folded behind his head, never realizing that he had drifted off to sleep while Sam continued his work on the computer, desperate to find something, anything to save them all.

Leaning back from his computer just to stretch a moment before he went back to work, Sam noticed movement outside his window. Thinking it was the deputy making a round to make sure they were all tucked in nicely, he stood up and shifted the curtain just a little to the side, his eyes landing on Stevie's back as she sat down on the curb of the walkway, a blanket pulled around her shoulders. He stared at her for a moment, watching her bring her knees up then rest her head on them, he wasn't sure but he thought he saw her shoulders shake and he could not just stand there any longer. Pulling on his jacket, he slipped out the room without waking Dean, moving to sit beside Stevie, his arm going around her shoulders and pulling her to his side. He leaned his head down, his lips brushing her hair as he spoke, "I won't ask if you're okay, but I will tell you that I'm here."

Stevie took in a shaky breath, her words faltering slightly when she spoke, "I pretty much lied to my sister, because I knew that I had scared her, that I had lost her faith, and how can I really expect to regain it by lying to her?"

Sam held her tighter, his head laying gently against hers as he whispered softly, "How did you lie?"

It was a simple question, and she knew she really shouldn't answer it, because she'd lied to him as well, even if it wasn't an outright lie, she'd done so by omission, "I still feel it, Sam. I still feel you. As deep as ever."

Sam let out a sigh of relief, even knowing that what they were going through wasn't of their own accord, it was so much easier knowing that once again, he wasn't alone. "I admit that it kind of hurt," he said gently, "as much as I was happy for you, I was angry for myself. I wanted Cas to heal me, too."

She snuggled a little closer to him, trying her best not to give into the emotion she was feeling at the moment, the want to just cry, to just for once let herself be vulnerable, even in a world where vulnerability could get you killed. "I am better," she said, her voice still shaking, "but I'm not healed. I still feel the effects of tonight, I still have splashes of memories from that room, even though I'm quite sure that I was out pretty much the second I hit the floor."

"Do you want to tell me about them?" Sam asked slowly, not wanting to push, but feeling that maybe talking about it could help, and there was a possibility that clues were hidden somewhere within those moments.

Thinking of the flashes she'd seen, the future, or what it could be, she lifted her face so that she could look at him, her eyes on his, feeling the compassion filling them and overflowing towards her. "There was you," she said with a little smile, raising one hand to gently touch the side of his face. "It was so perfect. There was streaming light, and you were laughing, playing with a little boy. You were just so happy, Sam."

Trying to find some clue in what she was telling him, he shook his head just slightly, "Who was the little boy? Where were we?"

Stevie shrugged her shoulders just slightly, "I don't know. I think, God, Sam, if I didn't see it, feel it, I'd think I was going insane, and maybe I am, because I'm not sure what's real right now, but I think he was yours. I don't know where it was..." Stevie trailed off, shaking her head, "No, I can't lie to everyone. And tomorrow, after she's rested, I'm telling Maria." She could still see the confusion in Sam's eyes, "You were at my house, in my backyard. Dean was grilling burgers, and Maria was telling him he was doing it wrong, but it was not mean, it was simply them. And I was sitting on the back steps, just watching. Just enjoying. And there was no care in the world. No demons, no angels, nothing supernatural of any kind. It was normal. And we were all happy."

Sam thought about her words, her vision and how it played out, "The little boy, he was ours?" He really wasn't asking the question because he already knew the answer. He'd been put into alternate versions of life before, and he felt certain that this vision or dream or flash, whatever it was, depicted just that. What life could be if the world was a different place, if Winchesters weren't demon hunters, and Hilliards didn't save the world from witches, vampires and more.


	30. Chapter 30

Sam knew that he shouldn't, and maybe part of him hoped that Stevie would pull away, but it was late, and he was tired, and he was so grateful that she was okay, even if she still felt out of sorts, but he leaned in close, tilting her face up to his and ever so gently pressed his lips to hers, a shock going through him, one that he was sure she felt as well. Their lips barely touched for a moment, almost as if both of them were waiting for the other to pull away, to stop this forbidden act, but neither did. Sam leaned in even closer, pulling her tight against him, his mouth moving over hers with a little more force, more desire, pushing his way inside as she opened her lips to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the blanket slipping off her shoulders, though without faltering a second in the kiss, Sam pulled it back around her, pulling her tightly against him again.

She wasn't even sure how long they'd sat there, just kissing, nothing more or less, the feelings that were sparking through them taking her breath away. Regretting the action, she slowly broke the kiss, rubbing her cheek against his own, the scruff of his face scratching her. "Sam," she barely breathed, " we shouldn't."

His nod barely perceptible, his lips found her forehead, planting several kisses there before he moved down, kissing the tip of her nose before his lips found hers again, just a mere millimeter between them as he spoke, "Maybe not, but tonight, right now, I'm going to hold you and promise you that nothing is going to happen to you because no matter what it takes, I will find a way."

Her eyes had been closed, so close were they together, but they fluttered open, putting a little more space between them. "Sam," she whispered, though her words were full of might, "do not do anything to save me that costs you. I know that you and Dean are famous for saving each other only to cause the other more pain. I don't want to be that person."

He looked at her, his eyes full of honesty, "If I feel like this, I'll have no will to stop myself."

"You'll have to," she whispered, almost resigning herself to some doomed fate, "and you have to promise me that you won't let Maria make some crazy deal either. I could never live with myself if either of you were hurt because of me."

Sam placed both hands on her shoulders, pushing her back a little so he could look directly into her eyes, "You will not die. Maria nor I will have to make any deal because you will not be taken from us. I promise you that."

Stevie's heart swelled a little at his conviction, wanting to believe it was as true as Maria's, though in the back of her mind, she knew better, "Don't make promises that you can't keep. It will only make you feel more guilty if you can't."

"How about for right now, we just concentrate on this moment?" He asked as he noticed the deputy's car was still in place, though it almost appeared as if he were napping. He looked to the rooms, both holding one of their siblings sleeping, then looked out to the parking lot at the two cars in front of them. "Will you wait here while I get the keys to the Impala? I just don't want to leave you yet, and I know you're cold."

She looked up at him, knowing she should tell him no, that she should go back to her room, to her bed and try to sleep, but she knew that it wouldn't happen, so instead she nodded. As he stood up, reaching his hand for her, helping her up, she took a deep breath while she waited for him to slip inside the room and come back with the keys. As soon as he quietly closed the door, he came back, taking her hand and walking the short distance to the Impala and unlocking it. He put the key in the ignition, turning it slowly, hoping that the noise of the engine starting wouldn't wake either Dean or Maria. He paused for just a moment, then reached over, turning on the heater. He opened the back door for her, letting her slide across the backseat before joining her and shutting the door, the blanket still wrapped tightly around her.

"Hopefully it will warm up a little for you soon," he said softly, again pulling her close to his side. Getting lost in these feelings, no longer fighting them for this moment, he kissed the top of her head, his breath warm against her as he spoke, "I may not be able to do everything I want with you, but I'm going to hold you, as long as you want."

"Forever would be nice," she lamented, "but my birthday is in less than twenty-four hours and we both know that something is going to happen, one way or another." She leaned over, kissing the base of his neck gently, "I'm just glad I've got you going into this. Between you, Maria and Dean..." Her voice trailed off for just a moment, before he heard the conviction in it, "Those bastards are going down."


	31. Chapter 31

"And what of us," Sam asked, true curiosity in his voice. "Do you think any of this, any of us, is real?"

Stevie didn't speak for a few minutes, actually making Sam think she didn't want to, that if she did, she'd outright tell him that she didn't believe in any of it, and the truth was he couldn't blame her. He didn't want to believe in it himself, he just didn't know how to stop, and if he wasn't completely lying to himself, there actually was a part of him that wanted this closeness to her to have some validity to it. It was a feeling that he'd been struggling with since the morning after they'd met. She was so real, she had so much passion in everything she did, from her love of Maria, to her work. He knew she'd meant it when she told him she'd never want Maria to sacrifice herself to save her. He just wasn't sure if he could keep the promise of not doing it himself if it came down to it.

Sam was a little surprised when Stevie reached for his hand, slipping her fingers between his. "I want to say that I don't believe we're real, at all," she said, knowing that she hadn't felt this way about anyone in so long, afraid of what it would be like to really care about someone again, other than Maria. "But the truth," she started, staring at their intertwined fingers, "is that I do. Maybe not as strong as this, because there is such a part of me that wants nothing more than to feel your body connected with mine." She turned her face to look at his, her eyes staring into his as if she were staring into his soul. "I know in my heart that I'm not ready for a feeling this deep, but I also know that I don't want to lose you. That even though we've been thrown together in a matter of days, that as strong as these powers are that have brought us together, they'd never break us unless there wasn't something real underneath."

Relief flooded Sam's face, and he understood everything she'd said, though in truth he was a man, and he would gladly lay her back and show her just how good it could feel for them to be together, but he wouldn't. Not here and not like this, especially after she'd just said she wasn't ready for that, but he couldn't stop holding her, feeling like letting her go would be his worst mistake, regardless of what was going on around them, and through them from unseen forces. "I agree," he said softly, taking her and pulling her onto his lap so he could truly wrap his arms around her. "I hope I'm not scaring you," he said quietly, "but right now, I just want to be in this moment with you. Until the sun comes up, I at least want to keep you here, safe in my arms, before I have to let you go so we can fight the watchers."

Stevie snuggled up against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder as his arms wrapped tightly around her, sighing contentedly, at least for the moment, "I just want to be in this moment, too." She knew that no other words would be needed, but it didn't stop her from speaking them, from holding on to something that while not real, felt as though it could be. "In one of the flashes, we were dancing, so close. I don't know where we were, because all I could see was you, but we were together. You and me, and it felt so right. Do you think that anything like that could ever happen? For either of us? Together or with someone else?"

He wouldn't admit it, but there was a twinge of jealously when she added there being someone else regardless of the fact that they both knew that at least half or more of what they were feeling was forced on them because of someone else, something else. "We can dance right now if you want to," he spoke softly, holding her just that little bit tighter.

She shook her head, "No." She looked at him, wanting him to see the truth in her words, straight from her heart, "If these flashes really are of some kind of future, I don't want to force them, I want them to come naturally. If we make them happen solely because I saw it, it's no more real than the deep feelings we have right now. I don't want that. I honestly didn't believe I could ever love anyone after Brian, after watching him die so horribly, but with you, I don't know, I think it's possible."

Sam nodded, understanding exactly what she meant, and how right she was. Kissing her forehead gently, he asked, "Were there any other flashes? Did you see anything else?"

She nodded, "Two others, and I don't know what to think of either of them, or even if they make any sense at all." She looked at Sam and knew that he needed to speak no words to let her know that he wanted her to tell him about them. Taking a breath, she started, though there was a shake in her voice that spoke of how uneasy the flashes had made her feel, that her not understanding them didn't give her any peace. "The first one was all of us again, you know, the four of us. But there was a blinding light and I couldn't see, I could only feel that we were all together, almost as one. And as soon as I felt it, it was pulled away, almost as if I wasn't supposed to see it, you know, like I was peeking through a door where I didn't belong."

Sam was quiet for just a moment, his mind at work, trying to make sense of what she described. "So you weren't yourself in that one? You were someone else?"

She nodded, her words barely audible, "Or something else."

Sam took a moment again, taking in her words and understanding why they would make her feel so uneasy. Anything that could make you feel as if you were something else had to be terrifying. "What was the other one?" he questioned, wanting to help her, if only by letting her share her burden.

"It's almost creepy in a way," she sighed, not even sure if she could describe it clearly. "I know it was me, and I know it was you, but I think they were trying to blend us up." She shivered just slightly causing Sam to tighten his hold on her. "It was almost like they were putting us in this giant blender and mixing us up. It was," she sighed, "the weirdest feeling in the world." She paused for a moment, "And if that wasn't bad enough, they poured us out like a pancake."

Sam was almost ashamed of his thoughts in that moment, but he reasoned you couldn't blame yourself for what popped into your head, especially the ones that came at the most inopportune moment, "Like that Pink Floyd video where all the kids fall into the meat grinder?"

Stevie didn't say anything for a solid minute, her face as stoic as it would ever be, then she let out the most boisterous of laughs, laughing so hard she was shaking and her sides were aching before she even began to slightly control her laughter. It was a medicine that she'd truly needed after the days they'd had lately, and if anything, he would always own a piece of her heart for that one moment. "Oh, Sam Winchester, how I love thee, let me count the ways."


	32. Chapter 32

Maria woke up sometime after nine, peeking under her lashes to see her sister in the bed opposite her, jumping up when she didn't find her there. "Sam..." she whispered in frustration as she grabbed her leather jacket to throw on over her pajamas, marching straight over to Sam and Dean's room and knocking on the door. "Sam Winchester, you better have my sister in there, though I'm probably going to kill you for having my sister in there," she growled, her temper a little worse at having to function so early in the morning. Maria never was an early person she had established early on.

Dean opened the door, his face as grumpy as hers, "What the hell are you banging on the door for?" Still fumbling around in his sleep induced fog, he didn't even realize that Sam wasn't in the room.

"Where the hell is my sister," Maria demanded, causing Dean to look back in the room and notice that Sam wasn't in the bed and laptop was still on. The fog lifted immediately as his gaze went back to Maria, "Sam's not here, and neither is Stevie."

Dean walked out onto the walkway, looking around, only then noticing the Impala was running, "What the hell?" He walked over and opened the door to turn it off and take out the keys, his eyes fluttering at the two figures asleep in the backseat. He looked at Maria as he stood up, not sure if he was pissed or relieved, "They're asleep in the back, but on the plus side, they have all their clothes on."

Maria didn't care if there were clothes on or off at that moment, she moved over to the car, pushing Dean out of the way, glaring at her sister for scaring the shit out of her, "Stephanie Anne Hilliard, you have no fucking idea how much I want to kick your ass right now!"

Maria's anger caused both Stevie and Sam to jump, startled awake. "Maria?" Stevie mumbled sleepily.

"Don't you fucking dare 'Maria' me. Do you have any idea how scared I was when I woke up and you weren't there? And to find you out here frolicking with Sam when you both know that is exactly what those assholes want you to do?"

"We didn't frolic," Sam grumbled, pushing his hair out of his eyes and trying to work the kink out of his neck. He looked up at Maria and took note of how pissed she really was, noticing that his own brother held a bit of anger in his eyes, though there was also relief in them.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Mare," Stevie spoke from the backseat, still a little tangled with Sam. "I went outside to feel the night air, to try and ease my mind from everything that happened yesterday, and then Sam came out. We were talking," she tried to explain.

"Talking?" Maria snorted, waving at just how entangled the two seemed, "That does not look like talking to me at all."

Finally freeing herself so that now she was sitting beside Sam in the backseat instead of on top of him, Stevie sighed a sound of defeat. She knew when there was no arguing with her sister, and this was one of those times, besides, she'd promised to tell her the truth today. "The thing is," Stevie started, feeling like she'd been caught by her parents making out with her boyfriend past curfew, "I kind of wasn't exactly truthful last night." She could almost feel Maria's temperature rising, speaking before her sister could start a tirade. "Not about feeling better, and more myself, that was all true," she told her, "but I'm still deeply attached to Sam. Even Castiel couldn't fix that."

Maria huffed as she sat down in the front seat of the Impala, staring at the both of them, a little bit of relief finally seeping in at knowing that her sister was safe, at least for the moment. "How far did it get," she asked, almost laughing when Stevie's head ducked and a slight blush hit her cheeks, something she'd never seen from her sister, ever.

"Just cuddling and maybe some kissing," Sam said, trying to spare Stevie some of the embarrassment, though he was feeling a little bit himself. "I promise our clothes stayed on and our hands above the clothes."

Dean laughed out loud, shaking his head, "Sam, I don't think I've ever heard you act so much like a geek, and trust me when I say I've seen you act like a geek plenty of times."

Sam gave his brother a grateful smile, especially as he saw the edge fade in Maria's voice, "Why don't you two idiots come inside and let's make a plan for today, any plan."

Dean looked at her, thinking, while his brother and Stevie crawled out of the car, Stevie immediately wrapping back up in the blanket. "What about what Cas said about staying put," he asked, knowing that he would probably end up being the first to question that idea.

Maria sighed, nodding to their room with everyone beginning to walk towards it, Dean looking over his shoulder before he walked into the room, once again waving at the deputy parked there. They really were starting to get on his nerves, not sure if he was making sure they didn't go back into town, or they didn't leave it.

Sitting down on Stevie's bed, leaning against the headboard, Maria shook her head, "I don't know, Dean. I mean, last night I was really starting to believe that maybe we should, but Cas hasn't really been around lately, and his words were pretty apocalyptic, you know?"

Stevie having been out at the time, now sitting on the edge of her bed closest to the table and chairs, Sam sitting in a chair right next to her, reached out for Sam's hand, ignoring the reactions of both her sister and his brother. "What did Castiel say exactly," Stevie asked, obviously not hopeful at Maria's comments about it.

The three looked at each other, then Maria turned her attention solely to her sister. "He said, and I quote, that it was inevitable."

Stevie looked at those around her, shaking her head with frustration, "No. I don't believe that. We're the best at what we do, and no one is going to tell us what to do." She looked at both Sam and Dean, "Michael and Lucifer said you were both born to start the Apocalypse, but you didn't. You changed that fate. We can do that, too."

Dean looked at Stevie, wanting to believe her passion, but knowing that they'd had so much help in defeating that plan, and it seemed even their greatest ally had all but given up on them. "Stevie, I hope you're right, but as of now, our asses are in the frying pan."


	33. Chapter 33

For less than an hour they continued to talk, no one seeming to have the ability to come up with another plan, any plan for that matter, to get themselves out of the proverbial fire. The boys went back to their room to shower and get ready for the day, as the girls did the same in theirs. Stevie was quite certain that she'd upset Maria, and she felt like she was still angry with her, also knowing that she had every right to be. But that didn't stop her from wanting to fix it.

"Maria," she said gently, not exactly sure how her sister would react now that they were alone, but pushing forward anyway. "I know you're upset, I know you should be, but I'm asking for your forgiveness. I should have told you last night that I still felt as strongly about Sam, but honest to god, if I had, I knew that you would have stayed up all night keeping watch."

"That should have been my decision to make," Maria said as she sat down on her bed across from Stevie. "You have got to realize that I'm not a kid any more, you're not my guardian, you're not my teacher, my mother or father. You are my sister. And as my sister, we're in this fifty fifty. What affects you, affects me, and vice versa, so you need to understand that this," she said, waving her hand around in the air to include everything that had been going on, "this has to stop."

Stevie sighed heavily, her eyes showing the sorrow she felt at the situation, "I know that you're all grown up, but I'll be honest and tell you that there were so many times I questioned myself about whether I did the right thing. Should I have let you go to a family where you didn't have to grow up like this? But then I questioned that because at the end of the day, there are monsters out there and I couldn't have you not know how to protect yourself. I would have really done a disservice to mom and dad and especially you if I didn't."

"I know that you doubted what you were doing, it was obvious in every hesitation you made, every irrational thing you ever said when you thought you were protecting me, but the truth is, and you just admitted it, me not knowing this world, would have only put me in more danger." She sighed heavily, meaning every word she said, "But if you want me to trust in you, you have to trust in me. You have to know that regardless of what you're feeling, you need to follow your gut, because I know it knows that I can handle it." Stevie went to speak and Maria held up her finger, needing to get out one more thing before her sister continued, "Whatever is about to go down, it is our fight. Not yours, not yours and Sam's, it's ours. All of us, and keeping me and Dean in the dark? It stops now."

Stevie had never heard such conviction in her sister's voice, though she admired it. "I admit that right now, you're thinking more clearly than I am," Stevie said, a touch of frustration in her voice.

"I know," Maria said, reaching over and taking her sister's hand, "And I know how much that kills you, that you like to be the one in control. You want to be the one making the decisions, calling the shots, but this time, you're benched. You don't go anywhere without either me or Dean." Maria sighed when she added, "Or at least Sam, but I won't be happy about that. I think it would really be spitting in the face of fate."

Stevie gave her sister a small smile, so unused to her taking the reins, and completely ill at ease with it, though also knowing it had to happen. She wasn't truly herself and until she could repair that, she was no good to anyone on her own. She could be useful as part of team, but even then, she feared she could possibly cause them more harm than good. A small spark igniting inside her, eyes closing as she fought off the feeling, but it overtaking her anyway. ' _Fulfill your destiny_ ' a voice inside her head whispered, and though the feeling lingered, when she opened her eyes again, Maria's face hadn't even changed, in fact she simply looked at her sister as she seemed to hesitate, "You understand, don't you?"

Stevie's face clouded over, her brow furrowing as she looked at her sister, "Did you not just see that? Or at least feel it?"

Maria stopped and looked at her sister, "Feel what, 'Vie. We're just talking, nothing happened."

Stevie swallowed the fear as it crept up her throat, her breathing coming just a little faster. "I was out, Mare. For at least a few minutes. Something took over my mind," she rushed, more fear as she realized her sister had no clue what she was talking about.

"Stevie," Maria began slowly, "You weren't out for minutes, or out at all. You blinked, that's it."

Stevie stood up quickly, panic in her eyes, "We have to get dressed. We need to see what Sam found from the pictures I gave him, if anything. And if not, we have got to find something. Anything. Because right now I'm starting to believe Cas, it's inevitable."

Maria grabbed her sister's arm, alarmed at her state, "What happened? What did you see?"

Stevie looked at her, the fear now having made its way to her eyes, scaring Maria more than anything else had. "I didn't see anything, I heard a voice. It was telling me to fulfill my destiny."

Maria's voice was shaking now, her sister's fear beginning to well up inside her, "Get dressed. One way or another, we're finding a way out of this."


	34. Chapter 34

As soon as they were dressed, the Hilliards were out the door and knocking on the boys' door, panic showing in the way that Maria banged on their door until Sam opened it, Maria pushing past him quickly. Stevie followed her in once he'd stepped back, then closing the door, he pulled the drapes together, as he caught a glimpse of the deputy rolling down his window again to see what he could hear.

Dean stared at the two girls, somewhat used to seeing fear or panic in Stevie's eyes, but what he saw in Maria's set his pulse to racing, "What is it? Did something happen? Why do you look like you've just seen the end of the world?"

Maria had begun to pace in front of the beds, Sam having sat down on the edge of his, pulling Stevie to him and keeping his arm around her, while Dean just leaned against the dresser, waiting for Maria to spill what had her so freaked out. "Stevie," she finally breathed out, her heart still pounding in her chest, the fear only seeming to well inside her no matter how much she tried to calm down. "She had a moment, for lack of a better word, where she felt spaced out for at least minutes, but it only happened in the blink of an eye, literally.''

Sam looked down at Stevie at his side, concern darkening his usually bright eyes, "What happened when you were out?"

Every eye was on her as she spoke softly, trying to erase the fear she felt, but feeling as if she were failing miserably, "I felt the uneasy feeling again, and something in my head spoke to me, telling me to fulfill my destiny." She sighed, knowing that Maria wouldn't be happy that she didn't tell her the last of it, but hoping she'd understand that Stevie didn't want them to both be alone when she spoke it out loud. "I also had this overwhelming desire to leave, I don't know where I was supposed to go, but I can guess."

There was visible pain in Maria's eyes, but one look at her sister and she suddenly understood. Even though she'd told her not to, Stevie was still trying to protect her, knowing that without the strength that the Winchesters were giving them, it could be possible that they'd completely lose control, because as much as she'd berated her sister for not knowing when to say she wasn't on top of her game, she couldn't do the same thing.

"I'm rattled," she admitted, sitting down on the edge of Dean's bed, not sure if she was surprised or not that he came and sat down beside her, placing his hand over hers. "I've never felt out of control like I did when Stevie told me what had happened. It was like, no matter what I could do, I wouldn't be able to save anyone, much less Stevie."

"It's not you," Sam said, looking over at Maria. "At least I don't think so. Something has filled you with fear, and you have to find a way to let it go." He watched Maria roll her eyes, knowing that if she knew how to let it go, she would. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but you've at least got to try."

"What? Like you trying to stay away from my sister? Look at you, it's like the two of you have given up. You're both all over each other knowing that what you're feeling isn't even your own desires. Some asshole filled you with crap that's not even real," Maria exclaimed, her temper getting the best of her.

"Hey, hey," Dean said, this time actually taking her hand in his own, feeling her racing pulse just at the base of her palm. "Look, they haven't done anything bad, at least not yet, and if we all stay together, nothing will happen." He sighed, shaking his head a bit, "I have to agree with Sam though, as much as they have been infected by some type of love bug, I think you were bitten by fear itself."

Maria stared at him, then looked at Sam and Stevie before turning her eyes back on Dean, "I may be a little more upset than I normally would be, but I don't think it's the same thing as what they're doing. I'm admitting that something isn't right."

"And we haven't," Sam asked, his growing feelings for Stevie making him more defensive. "We've done everything to not act on what we feel. I promise you, if we weren't fighting this, if Stevie even feels half as much as I do, we wouldn't have just been sleeping in a car last night."

Maria's eyes moved over to her sister, gauging her reaction to Sam's words, the way her head just laid on his shoulder saying more than she wanted to know. She sighed, pushing through the fear and frustration, "Fine. So you two want to kick us out the room so you call roll around in the bed together, and I'm so fucking paranoid that you will that I'm not leaving you alone together." She looked at Dean, her expression akin to that of begging, "We have to do something. Anything. There has to be a way to stop this."

"I agree," he said, his voice coming across more calm than he actually felt. "We'll find a way, but it's not going to be just sitting here waiting on an answer. Cas isn't coming, we're going to have to save ourselves."


	35. Chapter 35

Not much had changed in the next few hours as Maria's fear had seemed to steady, though not lessen, and Sam and Stevie had finally completely given up on hiding their closeness from their siblings. Though they now sat up against the top of the bed, Sam's back against the headboard while Stevie lay against his chest, they'd made no other move of trying to get closer, regardless of the fact that both wanted to. Dean had been thumbing through the journal that he'd kept from his dad, glancing ever so often at Maria who had taken over Sam's laptop.

Stevie watched Maria get frustrated with Sam's laptop for the millionth time, sitting up and moving to the end of the bed, "I'm going to go get your laptop, at least that could possibly lessen your frustration somewhat."

"The hell you are," Maria almost growled at her sister. "What? You'll go so you can slip off, probably with deputy guard dog out there, and go give in to this shit? I think not."

Stevie furrowed her brow at her sister. "The room is right next door, but if it will make you feel better, Dean can walk with me and watch me get it and come back," she spoke, though there was her own frustration in her words, and not because of Maria's accusation, but for the fact that there seemed to be a wedge pushing them apart. She didn't know how long she could take this rift between them. Maria had always been the closest person to her, and even when they'd fought in the past, it had never left her feeling this desolate.

Dean stood up, placing a hand on Maria's shoulder for just a moment, a silent show of strength, then he opened the door for Stevie, walking out after her and closing the door behind them. They walked the few feet that separated the doors, Dean waiting as Stevie let them inside. He was only remotely surprised when, instead of simply picking up the laptop and walking right back outside, she sat down on the end of her bed. Her expression showed every single feeling that she held inside, and though he was sure that he was the last person that she wanted to confide in, he was pretty sure at the moment, he was the only one she could. Pulling a chair over so he could sit opposite of her, he leaned forward a bit, his words slow, but honest, "Maybe we should talk. Something tells me that your feelings for both Maria and Sam prevent you from saying everything that you want to." He paused for a moment, then added, "Or maybe need to."

Stevie was quiet for a moment, not even sure if she knew what to say, but all it took was a few words, and then she was gushing with everything that was firing through her. "I've never felt so alone in my entire life. Even when Mom, Dad and Brian were killed, I still had Maria, and if anything our bond became deeper, you know? But now, yesterday, Maria telling me she didn't trust me, and right now, I find it hard to trust her. I don't think you can know how that feels," she sighed, then her gaze met Dean's eyes and she knew in an instant that he knew exactly how it felt. "I don't like it, Dean. Not at all," she began again, "And Sam? Oh my God, I can't say this to Maria, but I want him. More than any man I've ever wanted." She took a deep breath, her eyes falling to her hands in her lap, "Even Brian. And you have no earthly idea how much that pains me to say it, even worse, know it's true."

Dean placed his hand on top of hers, he'd never really been the kind of man to offer a lot of comfort, but he knew that somehow he really needed to manage it here, in this moment, more than any other time in his life, "But do you know it's true? Are you no longer believing that something else is driving this... passion you have for Sam?"

Stevie sighed, not sure if she even had the words to say what she was feeling, but giving it her best shot. "What I feel, for Sam, must have some sort of validity to it, even if it's not as strong as what we're feeling now, something can not manifest feelings like this if there isn't already some spark there. That I truly believe. And Brian? I have longed for him, fought to honor him since the day he was killed, and he was always at the forefront of my mind," she said, then paused, her voice dropping to a bare whisper, "Until the day Sam walked into that diner and smiled at me."

Dean looked at her, studying everything he saw, trying to combine it with everything he'd ever heard about her, and he knew that the two versions didn't add up, he just wondered if she did. "Did you know that you have a reputation for being an Ice Queen? But everything I've seen of you? There's not a shard of ice anywhere within you."

Stevie took his words in and nodded, "I'll admit that I've been more girly, for lack of a better word, since I've met you and Sam, but when has that really been a bad thing?"

Looking her dead straight in the eyes, his gaze not wavering as he spoke, he gave her the most honest answer he could, knowing that in her heart, she'd know it to be true, "When it gets you killed, or worse, someone you love."


	36. Chapter 36

Sam had watched Stevie get up, walking out the door with Dean, and a part of him wanted to simply follow them just to make sure she was okay, but the stronger part of him knew that she would be fine with Dean, that his brother would never let anything happen to her, and in truth, he felt pretty positive that Maria shouldn't be left alone. He got up off the bed, grabbing the chair that Dean had pulled over to sit in front of Maria earlier, now replacing it in it's place at the table. Leaving enough room for him to sit down, as he did so, his elbows hitting the table as he put his chin into his hands.

"I don't need you to watch over me," she sighed, though she was wondering if that was exactly true any more.

"I'm not watching over you, I think we should talk, and something tells me that we'll have a few minutes to do it," he said, his head leaving his hands to nod toward the room next door.

Again she found herself sighing, though this time it was more out of the frustration at what she felt was Sam's stupidity, "Do you really think that my sister is over there putting the moves on your brother just to keep herself from jumping you? Because, honestly, if that's what you think of my sister, I'll gut you the next time you so much as look at her."

Sam threw his hands up, a somewhat smile creasing his lips at Maria's promise to protect her sister. "No, Maria, I do not think that Stevie is making moves on my brother, but I do believe she's going to talk to him," he said, slowly lowering his hands as she thought about what he said, her anger lessening.

"Why in the world would she need to talk to Dean when she has me," she asked, then almost groaned with another sigh, "or you?"

Sam kept his answer simple, "Because she loves us." When her eyes widened, he shook his head, "Really, do you really think she doesn't love me? Why? Because it's been days and not months? In this world, do we really have the luxury of months?"

Maria huffed, her anger sparked once more, "You may not be able to play house for months, Sam, but you also don't fall in love in days. It doesn't happen. Be real and think about what you're saying. Do you really think you're in love with my sister, and not just being led down this road by whatever in the hell is wanting to sacrifice the two of you?" She got up from her seat, unable to sit still as her mind whirled with so many thoughts it was hard to figure out which one she wanted to speak of next.

Before she could decide, Sam spoke up, "I love your sister, and you can believe that or not. At this point I do not care, because I know you don't. We are going to make it through the next day and a half and you will have to believe it then, because I promise you that on November 18th Stevie and I will still love each other. Will it be this strong? I don't know, but I do know that it's just not going to disappear."

Maria cut her eyes at him, "And after all you've ever been through, you really believe that? I thought you Winchesters were supposed to be the all knowing experts of the supernatural, but you act like a goofy teenager with his first girlfriend thinking he's going to marry her one day because heaven forbid, nothing could ever feel like this! You're fucking delusional, Sam!"

Sam stood up, his own anger coming out, something that he rarely showed unless he was fighting for his brother, kicking the chair into the wall behind him, "I'm delusional? You're a bitch, Maria. Why are you so pissed about someone actually caring about your sister? Maybe you're just jealous that you're not the absolute center of her world anymore. Maybe it's you that just can't handle you losing your spot on the pedestal!"

Having heard the chair crashing into the wall, Dean and Stevie had rushed into the room, forgetting the laptop, the only concern was that someone had tried to harm their siblings. As they entered the room, having caught the last of Sam's words, they both stopped in the doorway, Stevie's eyes wide while Dean shook his head, "What the hell happened between you two?"

All at once, both tried to explain how the other was an idiot, but Stevie shushed them quickly, her own temperature rising at the heat between Sam and Maria. "Look, I don't know what happened between you two, but both of you need to calm down." She looked at Sam, hurt in her eyes, "How could you talk to my sister like that? You know how important she is to me, and regardless of my feelings toward you, she will always be my sister and I will always love her as such." She saw Maria's smirk before it even fully formed, and she squared her eyes on her sister, "And you? You know how much I care about Sam, regardless of whether you believe in it or not, but you should respect me enough to not to attack him."

Dean shrugged his shoulders as Sam looked to him for help, "Sorry, little brother, but I think Stevie has this pretty much under control."

Sam made his little aggravated face, "Great, so now whatever the hell is going on has got the three of us going at each others throats, but you're still your normal asshole self."

Dean arched a brow at his brother, "Keep it up, Sammy, and it will be all four of us."


	37. Chapter 37

Stevie slipped her fingers at the edge of her mouth, whistling so loud that she got everyone's attention, even the deputy outside, opening his door and stepping out to walk toward the room, but Stevie gave him a look that sent him back to his car as she shut the door. "I can't believe I'm the one that is actually putting an end to this shit, but in the wise words of my sister, this has got to stop." She looked at each of them in turn, "Can you not see what is happening? My birthday is less than 12 hours away and now we're at war with each other? I honestly believe that I could have walked out that door just now, and not one of you would have noticed. Our little deputy friend could have driven me away before any of you would have stopped long enough to realize I was gone." She sighed, their attention on her, shaking her head, "I don't know about anything else, but I do know that this," she said, waving her hand at each of this, herself included, "is exactly what it wants from us. It's tearing us apart. It wants us to be weak."

Maria nodded, moving over to her sister, hugging her tightly before looking at Sam, "I'm sorry for being such a bitch about it, but that is how I feel. I don't believe in what you and Stevie think you have."

Stevie returned the hug, "You don't have to believe in it, just respect us enough to let it play out and see where it takes us."

Sam looked somewhat ashamed as he nodded to Maria, "I should never have called you a bitch, but just as you don't believe in us, I do. Stevie does." He then turned his gaze on his brother, "You know you can be an asshole, but you didn't deserve to be called one like that."

Dean shrugged at the whole situation, not sure what he should think in the moment, now fearing that no thought was truly his own. The one thing he could believe in was that they had now all been infected with something. But how? When they came back to the motel, the only ones that had truly been affected had been Sam and Stevie, but in truth, they hadn't even been near the town at all when they'd first developed feelings for each other. "Whatever this is, whatever we're fighting, the watchers, I guess, they don't need to be near us to inject their desired emotions on us. Somehow they can reach us no matter where we are," he said as he sunk down on the end of his bed.

"Dean's right," Sam said, moving over to take Stevie's hand, pulling her to sit beside him as he settled onto the end of his bed. "There wasn't a watcher in sight when Stevie and I first met," he said aloud.

It was Maria that quickly questioned that, "How do you know? For certain, I mean. Think about the woman at the diner. Bobbie, I think it was. You actually met each other there, in that diner, who's to say that she isn't a watcher that has been looking after you two for awhile, and when she figured out who Stevie was, her being the one to be in the diner the same time as you, well, maybe she did start this feeling between the two of you."

Dean chuckled at this, having met Bobbie a few years back and seen her many times since, "Do you really think there could be a watcher around and we wouldn't even know it?"

Stevie was thinking that her sister made a good point, and had no problems backing her up on this idea. "Just think about it. Why would you have been looking for a watcher or anything else supernatural there? There had been no signs that something was at work, right? And that's how we know where to go looking, where there is a sign or an outright freaky show of the creepy and seeming impossible. But Bobbie sat right down with me and started a conversation. At the time I just thought it was just the way people were in a small town, it wasn't the first time I'd seen behavior like that," she finished, Sam's arm around her tightening.

Sam looked at both Dean and Maria, knowing that he didn't have to look at Stevie for her to know where he stood on this and that his words were genuine. "I hate to admit it, but Stevie is right. We would have had no reason to suspect, and she had Stevie and I there at the same time," he sighed, knowing what was coming from Maria, but wanting to stop her before she started. "And Maria, I know what you're thinking, but I still agree with Stevie, this could never feel this real if there wasn't some kind of truth in it. We do really care about each other, you know that's true," he finished, feeling the strength emanating from the woman at his side.

Maria leaned over in the chair she was sitting on at the table, running her hands through her hair as she groaned out loud, "Okay, that would explain you and Stevie, but what about what's happening between me and Stevie? That didn't start during our short time in the diner."

"But it did," Dean started, "after your visit to the church with that Cannon lady." He arched his brow as he looked at Sam, "Though you and me didn't start until today, so where would that have come from?"

"It wasn't instantaneous for us, either," Maria said, then a thought occurred to her, "Where did you get that pizza last night? Was it in town? In Union?"

Sam looked at Dean, his eyes showing that he thought it could have happened then. "Yeah," he said, "It was in town, and the owner came over while we were waiting and offered us a beer because it was taking longer than usual he said. He patted me on the back when he gave me the beer."

Dean nodded, "He patted me on the back when he handed me the pizzas."

Stevie looked at Maria, as if she were trying to recall a memory, "I don't remember Mrs. Cannon touching us, do you?"

Maria shook her head, "I have no memory of that at all."

Sam looked from Stevie to Maria, his voice concealing the fear they held as he spoke, "That doesn't mean she didn't."


	38. Chapter 38

They each took a moment to think about the ramifications of how they had each been injected with the feeling they'd each had thrust upon them. None of them were sure how to get rid of them, especially in the few hours they had remaining, but not a one of them had decided to give up. Maria was standing up to go her laptop when Stevie spoke out loud. "Mare, what happened in that museum? Even if Sam and I are the ' _chosen ones_ '," she said, using air quotes around the words, "it doesn't make sense that their back up plan wouldn't be you and Dean. And you were both in the museum at the same time."

Maria had stopped at the door, her hand on the knob as she looked at Stevie, then at Dean, trying to remember exactly what had happened there. Dean looked at her, his head tilting to the side as he thought back to those moments. "I don't remember her touching you," he said, then added, "Did she touch you before I came in?"

Maria shook her head, "When I first walked into the museum she was behind the desk, she didn't approach me until you walked up." She paused as she thought about it, "Something tells me she didn't expect me to leave before you."

"And since then, you two haven't been in the same place except for the diner we had lunch in, which we went out of town for, and here. While deputy blow hard has been sitting out there since we've gotten back, he hasn't been able to catch you outside without Stevie and I there, too," Sam said, as Dean got up and walked over to stand behind Maria, "And he's not getting a chance now. Dean will walk with you to your room, for safety's sake."

Both Stevie and Dean could see the rejection of the offer coming, but it was Dean who spoke up, "I'm going with you, end of story." Stevie nodded, and Maria relented, opening the door and walking the short distance to the room finding the door ajar from where Stevie and Dean had rushed out earlier. Maria looked at Dean, who motioned he would walk in first, though Maria shook him off, slowly pushing the door open, the deputy sitting at her laptop, going through her files.

"Surely that has to be illegal," Dean spoke up, surprising the deputy who quickly shut the laptop after closing out the window he had open.

The deputy stood up, his hands on his belt as he looked at the two, "The door was ajar, it's my duty to come in and check things out. I thought maybe something happened to you."

Maria rolled her eyes, "Don't you mean you were hoping that Dean and I would come in here so you could touch us and fuck up our lives, too? Touch me and it will be the last thing you do."

Dean put a hand on Maria's shoulder, not wanting her to push the deputy too far. The deputy did a good job of looking shocked, "Miss, I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just doing my job."

It was Dean's turn to show his distaste of the situation, "And it's your job to sit out in the parking lot making sure we don't disappear?"

The deputy stepped around the two, making his way to the door, making no move to touch either one, if anything, he was doing his best not to, "You're visitors to our town, it's my job to make sure you are safe." He stepped outside, turning around to look at them, a near wicked smile on his face, "And I see that you two are just fine. Let's make sure you all stay that way."

Maria went to move toward him, but Dean's hand on her shoulder held her back. "Don't," he whispered, watching as the deputy made his way back to his car. "Don't give him any reason to take you in," he told her, his voice deep with concern, "the last thing we need right now is us getting split up. We may not be at our best, but we're better when we're all together."

Maria snorted at this as she picked up her laptop, her hand still shaking a little from the anger she felt at her privacy she felt had been violated. She turned and looked at Dean, "Do you really think it's a good thing that we finally met each other, because to me, it's been nothing but bullshit from minute one."

"Just how it was designed to be, remember?" he asked, trying to keep in mind that even Castiel hadn't wanted them to meet until it was necessary. "What would have happened if we had met before? Maybe all of this would have been royally screwed up, which to me would be a damned good thing. But it didn't happen that way, and I know that once we get through all this bullshit, we'll always have someone to call when a case is too big." He nodded at her, "So will you."

"Dean," Maria sighed, "Can you really see us calling on each other after this? Honestly? Because I don't know about you, but it's not going to tickle my fancy to be in the same place as you guys once this is over. You never know what could happen."

Dean looked at her, understanding exactly what she meant, but giving her a small smirk anyway, "The thing is, Maria, once we kick this things ass? It won't matter what they throw at us next, we'll know without a shadow of a doubt that we can handle anything, and every one of those bastards? They'll be scared of us all together."

Maria thought about what he said for a minute, nodding a little, her own smirk matching his, "Hilliards and Winchesters, what did Castiel say? Unstoppable."


	39. Chapter 39

"Two minutes at least," Stevie looked at Sam, her eyes twinkling with mischief, "should we take advantage of it?" Sam didn't even hesitate as his lips pressed against hers, his hands moving into her hair as he held her head in place, not wanting to miss out on one single second of the time they had to enjoy this intimacy. They kissed for what seemed like hours, but in reality he knew was only a few minutes, but more than the allotted two they believed they had.

Finally breaking the kiss, loosening the hold on her hair that had held her so close, Sam pulled back enough to be able to look in her eyes, "I don't know if I've ever felt this way about anyone." He closed his eyes for a moment, wanting to get the words right, "I know that this may not be completely real, but I didn't even feel this deeply with Jess, and I can't express to you just how much I loved her, Stevie. I had every intention of marrying her."

Stevie reached her hand up, gently touching his cheek as she stared right back into his eyes, "And I was going to marry Brian. He was my whole life, and then he was taken away and every day since I've been trying to move on, but until now, I honestly didn't think it was a possibility." She sighed softly, her words almost sad, "But if tomorrow comes and goes, and we don't still feel the same way about each other, it may break me. Not simply because this wasn't real, but going back to feeling the way I did after even just a few days of being so connected to someone, I just don't know if I'd survive that unscathed. And if anything, Maria deserves better than that, she doesn't deserve a broken sister."

Sam pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her hair as he whispered, "No matter what, Maria will never let you stay broken. She'll piece you back together and make you stronger for it. She may frustrate the hell out of me, doubting us the way she does, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she will always have your back and she would never let you fall so far you couldn't get back up."

Stevie smiled against his chest, her arms tightening around his neck as she held on. "You are the most wonderful man I've ever known," she spoke softly.

"Oh dear God, please don't make me sick," Maria said as she walked into the room, having quietly opened the door, with Dean on her heels.

Stevie shook her head, pulling out of Sam's arms to be able to look at her sister, "You should be happy, Sam just told me that you'd be the one person to save me if all of this broke me in the end."

Maria rolled her eyes as Dean shut the door behind her, "Any idiot would know that." She looked at Sam, a wry smile hitting her lips, "Maybe you're not a complete idiot after all."

Stevie picked up a pillow from the bed, throwing it at her sister, who huffed at her. "Serves you right," she said as looked at the expression on Dean's face, then back to her sister, seeing the same look in her eyes. "What happened? I know that something happened," she asked as she sat up straighter, finally realizing that her sister and Dean didn't look happy at all.

Dean moved over to his bed to sit down, while Maria took the chair at the table, pushing Sam's laptop over so she could open her own, all the while telling Sam and Stevie all about finding the deputy in their room and on Maria's computer including the awkward conversation. Maria's fingers were flying over the keyboard as they had filled in their siblings on what happened, gaining Dean's attention, "What are you doing over there?"

Maria didn't even take her eyes off the computer, actually smiling when Stevie answered before she did. "She's tracing what he did on her computer. Whatever he did, she'll be able to put it all together and we'll know exactly what he looked at, hopefully figuring out the why." She looked at both Sam and Dean, the first hopeful smile on her face in days, "This may be just the break we need to get the upper hand. They have finally made their first mistake, now we just have to capitalize on it."

Dean joined the girls with his own smile, throwing a look at Sam, confusion as to why his brother hadn't joined them, "What's up, Sammy? Why aren't you looking at least a little happy?"

Sam stared right back at his brother, his voice dead serious, "Did you ever think that's exactly what he wanted you to do?" He looked at Maria, shaking his head, "They know everything about us, which means they also know you could follow his trail, how do you know it isn't all a set up to get us to look somewhere we really shouldn't?"

Dean, Maria and Stevie all sighed, knowing that there was at least some truth in what Sam had said. They couldn't really trust anything that had been done on Maria's computer, but it didn't stop her from looking and retracing his steps. "Sam," Maria said, "You may be absolutely right, but even knowing that there could still be some kind of information we can figure out from it. Whether it's leading us astray or helping us figure out their plan, either way, there is something to be learned from it."

Stevie nodded at her sister, "I agree, this is the first break we've had since we got here, really. It's a chance to see what they wanted us to see and to figure out if it was planted or not. We've got nothing else to go on, so whatever Maria finds, that's what we have to work with right now."

Sam let out a heavy breath, his eyes now on Stevie, "Just as long as we all know that this could hurt us in the long run."

Stevie touched his cheek with her hand as she answered him, "We all still have each other, they're not going to win this."

Maria grinned as she finished retracing all of the deputy's steps he'd taken on her computer, "Not a fucking chance, because I just found their ritual."

A/N: Please read and review! I would love to know your thoughts on the story so far.


	40. Chapter 40

The remaining three all moved over to look over Maria's shoulder, with Stevie directly behind her and both of the Winchesters flanking her sides. Maria pulled up a page that was encrypted, but in less than a minute, one of the programs that Maria had installed on her laptop had broken the encryption leaving them to look at the ritual in their native English language. They all read silently, a feeling in the air that they were finally getting somewhere, the whole procedure of getting Stevie and Sam to the altar and how they would finally unite them for all of eternity, culminating with them procreating with not just one child, but coming back year after year to follow the ritual as they created Heaven's army on earth. A prophesy that caused a muttered 'as if' from Stevie, knowing she'd have to be possessed to want to spend the rest of her life pregnant with Heaven's army.

Sam stood back and shook his head, "Am I still the only one that thinks this is a little too easy?"

"Too easy," Maria balked, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to do what I just did? This isn't amateur hour, Sam. Not a lot of people could have broken that down as quickly as I just did."

Stevie looked at Sam, her voice dropping slightly, "And you think they knew she would be able to do it, basically leading us down the path to be sacrificed?"

He nodded, "It makes sense. They know everything about us, do you really think they don't know what a computer wiz Maria is?"

Dean reluctantly admitted, "I think I'm going to have to go with Sam on this one, Maria. We haven't even gotten through everything they had on us, and who's to say that what we have is all that they have. As much as I want this to be real, to finally have something we can fight against, I just can't wholeheartedly believe it's a lucky break."

Maria's head fell forward, it was if all life had drained out of her for the moment, her voice sounded so depressed, "I really wanted this to be real." She then looked up at her sister, "If this isn't real, then what? It says it's you and Sam, how can we really discount it altogether? Some of it has to be real, right?"

Sam nodded, "I think the main points may be real, but how it has us getting there, it can't be. How are they going to get Stevie and I alone? We're not going anywhere together, much less to check out that church again. Influenced or not, neither of us would make that mistake."

Maria slammed her fist down on the table, startling everyone, "I'm so fucking sick of this shit. There is always a way to defeat these bastards, yet we can't find one. I am not letting my sister be used. It's just not going to happen."

Dean rested his hand on her shoulder, if anyone understood her frustration, it was him, "We won't let them be lambs led to the slaughter, Maria. We will stop this, even if we have to hog tie them so they can't leave."

Sam arched a brow at this, "Please don't do that. I'm not going anywhere."

Maria turned her gaze on Sam, "Not willingly, no." She then looked to Stevie who had moved back to sit on the bed, "'Vie, I know that it may not seem like it right now, but I do trust and believe in you. I know that my sister would not willingly go anywhere that could possibly harm herself or me, but can you say you were yourself when you went into that church?"

Stevie was silent for a moment, letting Maria's words truly sink in. Even though she'd known at the time that it was a bad decision she had walked into the church, and even that room of her own volition, at least it had seemed that way, but once she'd gotten out, once she had come to, she'd known she hadn't made those decisions on her own. "Maria's right," she said as she looked up at Sam. "We can't be trusted. Not right now. You and I? We can't go anywhere together, or by ourselves. If we did, I'm afraid of what we may do."

Dean put a hand on his brother's shoulder, knowing that Sam had not wanted to hear Stevie's words, but knowing that they were true. "She's right, Sammy," Dean spoke, a hint of sorrow in his voice, "This isn't the first time one of us would have been possessed or forced to do something against our will." Sam was about to speak, and Dean shook him off, "I know, you want to be with Stevie, and she wants to be with you, but you'll just have to do it right here in front of us, because we're not leaving you alone. Period."

Again Sam was about to speak, though this time it was Stevie who grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to her as she spoke, "We just want to be close to each other, right now. And there is nothing wrong with that. No matter what our desires are, we're not following through with them until this over and done with. As frustrating as all of this is, we do still have control over our libido."

Sam smiled down at her, then pulled her up to wrap his arms around her, "I have to admit you really are better at explaining this than me." He tilted her head up to him, softly kissing her lips, then resting his forehead against hers as he looked at her, "I'd really like to see this all end so I can kiss you and know it's completely us."

"I'd really like for all this to end so I don't have to watch you do that because I can't leave you alone for two seconds," Maria snorted, still not believing that Sam and Stevie would still want to be together at the end of this.

Dean looked at Maria, wiggling his brows at her playfully, "I don't know, maybe we could leave them alone for like, five minutes, let them get all this mushy shit out the way and then we can go about our day and kick this shit to the curb."

While both Sam and Stevie rolled their eyes, Maria grinned at Dean. "Let's hit the vending machines."

Dean moved to the door, opening it for her, "A woman after my own heart. I'm a lucky guy."

Maria elbowed him as she walked back, throwing over her shoulder, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"


	41. Chapter 41

Stevie and Sam watched the two go, Dean closing the door behind him. Sam looked down at Stevie, an almost confused expression on his face, asking her if that had really just happened only to watch her shake her head in disbelief. They stood there, looking up at one another for a few moments, just looking, before Sam reached out, his fingers slipping into her hair and pulling her up towards him as he leaned down, his lips barely grazing hers at first, but once she opened them, her tongue darting out to delve between his, he pulled her in tighter, her arms going around his neck as they took the kiss deeper, making them both long for more.

Picking her up, her legs immediately moving around his waist, he walked her to the bed, laying her down, then hovering over her. Her voice was shaky as she spoke, "Sam, I want this so much."

He slightly nodded at her as he dipped his head, placing kisses along her neck, bringing forth a moan of pleasure from her lips followed by a soft plea for him to stop. He nipped at her ear before moving to look down at her face, swearing that she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "I'm not going to make love to you, because when that happens, we're not going to be waiting for our babysitters to interrupt, but I want you to know how I feel about you, because when all of this is over, even if you don't feel the same, I want you to know how much I care about you in this moment."

She reached a hand up, touching his face, her eyes so full of love and hope that she knew they were about to fill with tears, an act that was extremely rare for her these last few years. "Sam," she murmured, pulling him down to lay atop her, his weight warm and heavy as it pressed her into the bed.

He easily rolled them over so that she was laying atop him, her weight almost nothing, bringing her in to kiss her again, this time truly taking his time as he did so, letting the kiss linger as he held her close to him, "You're all I want in this moment."

She pulled back to look down at him, her breath catching as she realized just how close they were and how good it felt to be loved again, to be held and wanted. She had really been still a child when she'd lost Brian, and had loved as a teenager would, but with Sam, she was a woman now, with a man. "Will you promise, that no matter what happens when all this is over, if we're no longer in love or whatever this is, promise that you won't walk out of my life, that you'll still be there, we'll at least be friends, because as close as I feel to you right now, I don't know how I would be able to walk away and leave all this behind." She sighed, swallowing, "Is it bad to say that I don't want to?"

Sam stared straight up into her eyes, knowing exactly how she felt. It had been a long time since Jess, and even Madison hadn't taken that feeling away, not to say that Stevie made him forget about Jess, but she took some of the pain away, she made him feel like there could be something to be had in this sad, crazy world they lived in. He pushed the hair out of her eyes, his hand staying on her cheek, "I promise you that when all is said and done, that won't be the last you hear from me. I don't want to not have you in my life either. And I completely understand, because the way I feel right now, with you? It's all I've ever wanted and more. You make me believe that one day, I can have a normal life, a family, and that's something that I have been losing hope on."

Breaking eye contact, she leaned down, kissing her way up his neck to his ear where she whispered softly, "Maybe one day we can both have that. Maybe together." Sam then turned his face into hers, bringing her into another deep kiss, holding her as close as he could, his hands moving over her, eliciting a very soft moan as her body began to press into his, causing reactions from him that neither was ready for, regardless of how much their bodies seemed to want it.

Sam's words were choked as he whispered, "Steph, I can't. We have to stop or I swear to God I am going to have you right here, right now, and we both know we can't." His eyes implored her, "Not yet, baby, not yet."

Stevie groaned as she fell to his side, an ache inside her that wasn't going to go away any time soon. She whimpered slightly, "It's Stevie."

Sam chuckled, relaxing somewhat now that she wasn't pressing down on top of him, he turned to his side, pulling her to him, kissing her nose, "When we're having a moment, you will be Steph, because as much as a Stevie you are, I want something a little sweeter to call you. Deal?"

She smiled at him, her eyes rolling for a brief second, "Only you." It was her turn to kiss the tip of his adorable nose, "If you promise not to call me that in public, I'll agree to it. But if you call me Steph in public, I will kick your ass."

Sam raised his hand to her, stating it was his scout's honor, but once more Stevie rolled her eyes, "The day you're a boy scout is the day that I take over Crowley's spot in hell." The smirk from Sam's lips caused her to add, "Don't you dare tell me to go to hell."

Sam chuckled, "I would never." He caught her playful glare, then added, "Very often."


	42. Chapter 42

Sam and Stevie had spent a few more minutes cuddling and kissing, just enjoying the time alone when Stevie sighed, "You know, as happy as I am to just be here with you, Maria and Dean should have been back at least five minutes ago. I know they wanted to give us a some time together, but I know Maria and she wouldn't have stayed gone this long, even if Dean was trying to talk her into it on your behalf."

Sam nodded, not having known Maria long, but long enough to know that Stevie was right. "Let's go see what's keeping them," he said, standing up from the bed and pulling her upright. He pulled her in for one last small kiss, then took her hand to walk outside. They looked down where the vending machines were, but didn't see them. Stevie then checked out her room with Maria, but it was empty as well.

"They couldn't have gone too far," Stevie said, nodding toward the cars still parked where they'd been that morning. She smirked, "Maybe we should go ask the deputy."

Sam swallowed hard as he turned his attention back to Stevie, "The deputy isn't here."

Stevie turned around, her eyes widening as her heart began to pound, she grabbed Sam's hand, needing more strength than she had in that moment, "Do you," she began, her words faltering in fear, "Think he took them?"

Sam pulled her close, closing his eyes as he let his chin rest on the top of her head, "I don't know, but before we completely panic, let's call them and look around first, okay?"

Stevie's phone was still in Sam's room from the night before, but he had his in his pocket, immediately calling Dean's cell. When he didn't answer, Sam then tried Maria's also getting no answer. Once they'd checked everywhere they thought it would be possible for them to go, Stevie looked up at Sam, her eyes showing the fear she felt inside, "Can I panic now?"

Pulling her to him once more, he held her close, whispering softly, "Yes, we can. I know they said we shouldn't go anywhere, and maybe we should try to call Cas first, but if he doesn't come, we have to go after them. We can't just sit here and wonder what is happening to them."

Stevie agreed and walked with Sam back into his room, neither of them sitting at the moment, while Sam called out for Castiel as she silently begged him to come help them. Her sister was missing, and Stevie had no clue as how to help her. After a solid ten minutes with no reply, Stevie sunk down onto the bed. How could Castiel abandon them like this? It didn't make sense to her at all, and though he'd never been there all the time for her and Maria, she knew that he was close to the Winchesters making it hard to understand his disappearance.

Just when they were about to give up and go out to find their siblings, Castiel appeared in the room, looking as disheveled as ever, the look on his face already letting the two know that his words would not be comforting. "I don't know where they are," he said, his attention turned to Sam because he just wasn't sure that he'd be able to take the pain in Stevie's eyes, although he still held some of his angel indifference, he'd picked up a lot of humanity along the way. "I know that you want to go searching for them, but it's not a good idea. You two do not need to leave this room. For any reason, at least not for the next thirty hours."

Stevie huffed at him, "I'll give you thirty minutes to go find my sister and Sam's brother, after that all bets are off. I don't care what happens to me, but my little sister is not going to be toyed with at the hands of fallen angels. I hope you understand that, Cas, because I will not go out without a fight, and if you know anything about me, that should be on top of the list."

Sam admired Stevie's strength in the moment, and her relentless love for her sister, knowing he'd have no trouble backing her up when it came to anything. "I agree with Stevie, Cas, you have thirty minutes to bring Dean and Maria back or we're taking it on ourselves. If you think that there is any way we're just sitting on the sidelines while you're buddies fuck with them, you are sadly mistaken."

Castiel sighed, while he understood the passion the two had for their siblings, it was that passion that would make them jump into the fire when they knew that they shouldn't. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide what he could say that would make them understand, "Sam, I can't promise I'll have them back in thirty minutes. We don't even know where they are at the moment. I promise you that I will do everything I can to find them, to find you all a way out of this, but you have to give me some time."

"How much time," Stevie piped up, she had no plans to just sit still while her sister was in danger, and she was quite certain that Castiel could read that in her. "How much time are we supposed to wait?"

Castiel spoke quietly, as if he were talking to a little child. "As long as it takes," he said, "And I need you two to stay out of harms way while I find them. It won't do to find them and then have lost you, do you understand that? Because you realize that you two play a pretty big part in this whole thing."

Stevie shook her head, simply knowing that Sam would back her up if needed, "You have thirty minutes, then we're going after them. I don't care what these assholes think they're going to do with us, they won't be able to break our resolve especially if they have Maria and Dean."

Sam nodded, "Thirty minutes, Cas. Then we're heading out. Not a minute later."

Castiel looked at both of them, knowing that they were not going to listen to him, and he couldn't explain how wrong they would be be in doing so. "Then you've sealed your fate, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. You will lose this battle, and you'll still probably lose Dean and Maria in the process."


	43. Chapter 43

Castiel disappeared as quickly as he'd shown up, leaving a very disgruntled Sam and Stevie trying to make the decision to even stay the thirty minutes as the Angel had said he'd probably not be able to find them in that time frame. Stevie had begun to pace as Sam sat down in front of Maria's laptop, hoping to find some clue that they'd not discovered yet. Stevie kept throwing glances at him as he worked on the computer though there were no words spoken between them. Stevie noticed that Sam was looking at the same page for more than a minute or two and was already heading his way when he motioned her over. He sat back just enough so that Stevie could sit on his knee and look at the computer with him.

"What is this," she asked, looking over the page, but nothing was standing out to her.

"Don't look so much at the words and pictures, but look behind them," he told her, bringing her attention to the background, and even though it was so light you could barely make it out, it was a picture of the carvings from the altar they'd found behind the church. She reached out to touch them, but quickly pulled her hand back as she remembered what she believed happened because she had touched the altar itself. "That still freaks me out," she whispered, still staring at the pictured carvings.

"I know," he said, "But I don't think that page can hurt you, at least I'm pretty sure it can't since it's just on a computer, but better safe than sorry." He began to scroll down, and while most everything didn't seem to make any sense, he was struck by an idea. "Do you think they communicate through this website?" he asked. "I mean, I'm not thinking by what is written here because it all looks pretty plain to me, but I think the backgrounds mean something." He began to click the different links on the page and each one had a different background picture, all done the same as the first. He sighed, "Now we just need to try and figure what each of these mean. Maybe one of them will show us how to get to Dean and Maria."

Stevie nodded, "Maybe there is a clue in the link itself, or something surrounding the link." She studied one of the backgrounds, not having a clue what exactly it meant, "This one, it looks like there are four people involved. Do you think that has something to do with all four of us? Or could it just be us and two of them?" She sighed heavily, "Wouldn't it be nice if they would have just printed out their schedule for us and what they were going to do with our siblings. Is that really too much to ask?"

Sam ran his hand over her back, offering support as best he could. "We're just going to have to figure it out, and the sooner the better," he told her as she got up off his knee, her mind already working overtime on how to get her sister back. She leaned over and got the web address that Sam was looking at then grabbed his laptop from the table, laying across the bed with it. Sam glanced at her, a smile of pride on his lips as he realized just how strong she could be. She was not falling apart, she was not crumbling. The watchers had no idea how much they had just screwed themselves over, because before they had Stevie at her weakest, but then they took her sister, and that just put her back up on her feet ready to fight. He was sure that they hadn't realized just how formidable Stevie could be.

Stevie had the site pulled up and was looking at it as she called out to Sam, "I'll take the top half of the page, and you take the bottom half. We'll try to figure out what we can." She reached back over to the table, finding a tablet of paper and tore a few sheets off and handing them to Sam before moving back to the computer in front of her, "Make notes on all the images and links, maybe we can put them together and come up with something that makes some kind of sense that we can work with."

Sam turned back to Maria's computer, following Stevie's demand as he began to make notes of what he found, going as fast as he could, the clock ticking away the time as it got closer and closer to Stevie's birthday. The last look at the clock had told him they were only a few hours away now, and to say that he was getting more agitated by the moment would be a complete understatement. "Does anything look like it's coming together for you," he asked as he was nearing the end of his half of the page.

Stevie sighed heavily, almost done with her own half of the page. "No," she said, "but I'm hoping when we put it all together we'll be able to find some thread that we can pull that will put this all together. There has to be a way, Sam. There just has to be."

He picked up his notes, moving to sit beside where Stevie lay across the bed, putting his notes down next to hers. He looked at her noticing her frustrated expression as her eyes ran over the pages, he ran his hand over her shoulder then picked up both pages of notes, studying them. "I'm pretty good at picking at threads," he told her as she began to still click around the site.

"Yeah, Maria is a brainiac when it comes to that stuff, too," she told him, clicking from one link to another, something starting to come together in her mind, taking the tablet of paper back from Sam, tearing off the notes she'd taken and handing them back to him as she jumped up and moved over to Maria's computer on the desk. It took a few minutes, but she found what she was looking for. "Sam, I've got it," she exclaimed excitedly.

Sam was already making his way over to her, a smile on his face as he had figured out something himself. "You have got to look at this, there is no denying that this is their site now," he said, taking the notes and lining them up to form a pattern.

Stevie looked up to him, a spark in her eyes that only a breakthrough could bring about. "Perfect," she grinned, "And when you add these in, we should have that thread pulled in no time," She laid the page of the new notes she'd just made showing how the backgrounds from each page coincided with the different sacrifices over the years. "We've done it, Sam, we're going to end this before they can even get their ritual started." For the first time since this nightmare had begun, both felt like they finally had caught a break that would indeed help them stop the inevitable


	44. Chapter 44

Both Sam and Stevie had the trunks open on each car, deciding what they needed to take with them, Stevie grabbing Maria's bow with the arrows whose tips had been made out of the metal from an angel blade and her colt pistol fashioned after the original whose bullets had been dipped in that same molten angel blade. She took the gear over to the Impala, Sam and her already having decided that it would be the best for a fast getaway with its four doors.

Once they were loaded up with Sam behind the wheel, Stevie took a moment to let things roll around in her mind, one thing really starting to bother her. "I don't get it," she said, Sam glancing at her as they drove toward the church and that same road they'd camped out at before. "It doesn't make sense to me. I understand that the deputy took Maria and Dean, but why didn't they send someone else to watch us? Were they that secure in their plan that they thought we really would just sit there and not do anything?"

"I don't know," Sam said slowly, his mind also pondering those questions as it was the only thing that didn't make sense in the plan. They were sure that the watchers were going to use Dean and Maria as bait to lure them in, but had they really not planned for the contingency that he and Stevie would figure out where they would be before that? "It really doesn't make sense, does it?"

Stevie looked ahead, the road up ahead coming into view, "It doesn't matter either way, even if this is some kind of trap, we're going for it. I'm not leaving my sister out there at those assholes' mercy. Not happening."

When Sam made the turn on the dirt road, idling down it to the place Maria had parked, shutting the car off, he let the keys stay in the ignition for just a moment. He turned to look at Stevie, who was more anxious than he'd ever seen her. "Stevie," he said, his voice steady, "I don't know what we're about to get ourselves into, but I want you to know that whatever happens out there, I've got your back. We've never worked together before, and it's important that you know that."

Stevie nodded, this moment all about the saving of their siblings, "I promise you, Sam, I will fight just as hard as anyone you've ever known. They crossed a serious line when they took Maria. Nobody takes my sister and lives to tell about it." She opened her door, stepping out of the car and meeting Sam at the trunk, grabbing their weapons, slinging Maria's crossbow on her back. They began the walk through the woods, not using any lights at all for fear of alerting someone. Their best move would be of surprise, even if the watchers would be expecting them at some point, getting that initial surprise would at least turn it towards their favor. Stevie grabbed Sam's arm, halting him for just a moment, "Remember your promise. You promised that if something happens to me, you won't let Maria do something stupid to bring me back."

He nodded, knowing what that meant to her, "I promise, but you have to make the same promise to me. If I die, I want to stay dead this time. No bringing me back. Not again."

She nodded and they made their way stealthily through the woods, staying hidden as they surveyed the scene. There were dozens of cars, the church had a few lights on, but already the altar was bathed in light, shadows moving around it. Stevie held her breath for a moment, listening for any sound of Maria or Dean, any sign of where they may be. She looked at Sam and shook her head, she didn't hear anything.

Moving toward the altar, Sam motioned for her to follow him, moving as quietly as was humanly possible, they skirted the woods, staying a little deeper than when they'd been out here before. There were people outside and they had to be certain to not alert them that they had arrived, they still needed some kind of element of surprise to make sure they were able to get to Dean and Maria before they were noticed. As they drew closer to the altar, it was so well lit up, they had to stop further out than they'd hoped, but as they moved around the woods, the only people they saw were the watchers themselves. There was no Dean and Maria anywhere in sight.

Sam motioned for them to keep going in the same direction, away from the altar and further away from the car. Once they were far enough away so that they wouldn't be heard, Sam stopped and turned to Stevie. "They have to be in the church," he said, looking down at his watch with frustration, "It's less than an hour until your birthday officially begins, so I was hoping that this side of the church would be the easiest to enter. There seems to be more people on the other side."

Stevie nodded in agreement, patting her back pocket where she always kept her lock picks, "I can get us through any lock, it's just a matter of how long it will take. Obviously the more secure the lock, the more time it takes, but even with a difficult one I should be able to get us inside in under a minute."

Sam was visibly impressed as this was something he didn't know about Stevie, and he was sure it came in handy for the girls quite frequently. "I can actually pick a lock, too, but I'm nowhere near that fast," he smiled, then added, "Of course I don't have a lock pick set either."

They moved around the church a little more, keeping cover in the woods until they found a door that appeared to be unguarded. Moving as quickly as possible, they made it to the door without being seen, Stevie kneeling down to make quick though quiet work of the lock. Once she had it open, she motioned for Sam to cover her as she slowly opened the door, but there was no need, they'd entered the chapel and there was no one in sight. Stevie looked at Sam, her breathing uneasy, "This is seriously too easy."

A/N: Thank you to everyone reading and for the reviews. I appreciate them all. Thank you so much.


	45. Chapter 45

They moved around through the chapel and there was no one around, nor could they hear anyone outside the door to the hall that Stevie had scouted only the night before. As quietly as possible, she opened the door less than an inch, looking down the hall, seeing no movement whatsoever. She closed the door back just as quietly as she'd opened it, whispering to Sam. "I don't know what's going on, there is no one in the hall, and all the doors are shut. Last night they were all open, but it's almost like they want us to go down that hall."

Sam thought for a moment, then nodded, "This has to be some kind of trap, some way of getting us where they want us, but I would have thought that would have been at the altar. This doesn't make sense at all."

It was Stevie's turn to think for a moment, her eyes searching around for some clue, some answer that could help them save their siblings, only nothing was coming to her. "I think," she sighed, "that their goal is to capture us using Maria and Dean as bait. Once they have us, they can make us go to that stupid altar and have us create that ultimate power." Stevie moved to sit down on the first pew, her breath coming a little faster now, her eyes on Sam, her feelings for him nearing the surface, but at a different angle. "Sam, I can't lose Maria. She's the only family I have left. I need you to help me save her, and not lose myself in the process."

Sam moved over to her, squatting down as he took her hands in his, his eyes on her as he stared directly into her eyes, "I promise you that we will not lose anyone tonight. Dean and I have been in situations like this before, and we came out on top. We just have to keep our heads screwed on tight and make no mistakes. There is no room for error. I'm not saying it's not going to get rough, I feel pretty strongly that it is, but you can't let your love for Maria blind you from what you have to do. I know it's hard, but it's what you have to do."

She leaned her head forward, her forehead meeting his, "Maria and I have been in some jams before, but not like this. I'd always been on top of my game during those times and right now, I'm scared I'll screw up. That's my problem, I've lost faith in myself through this. Dean said I had some reputation as an Ice Queen, and if I ever needed that, it's now."

Sam gave her an encouraging smile, "You are not an Ice Queen, but that doesn't mean you aren't still formidable. Push that doubt out of the way, because if I didn't think you could do this, I wouldn't have let you come. We can do this, and we will."

He sat back a little as she straightened up, she nodded at him, her faith a little stronger with his belief in her, "We need a plan, and I am pretty sure that we shouldn't stick together, we at least need to make it a little harder for them to catch us. One of us needs to search the church and the other should maybe check the altar again and if they aren't there, maybe check the cars, maybe they have them stashed in one of the trunks."

As much as he didn't want to, he didn't want her to go out on her own, he knew that she was right. Their best bet would be to split up, and that was a sign that she was back on track if nothing else. "I'll take the church," he told her, "We already know that room definitely affects you and we only have a suspicion that it will affect me. I think I'll be our best chance in the church, but you have to be very careful." He looked at his watch again, sighing, "Stevie, we have about ten minutes left before your birthday is here. They are really going to be on the lookout by that altar and everywhere around it. You can't make any mistakes."

"I know," she said as they both stood up, each hoping that the other would be safe and make it through this night unscathed. She took a deep breath, "We should get going, we're kind of running out of time here."

Sam reached out and pulled her to him, slipping his arms under where the crossbow hung on her back, holding her tight and kissing the top of her head before releasing her and kissing the tip of her nose, his eyes softening for just a moment. "I love you," he whispered as he looked into her eyes.

She gave him a softer smile, knowing that when this night ended, there was a very big chance that their feelings for each other would change, and while she felt that it may push her back to being a better hunter, she had to admit that it had been nice to feel something. "I love you, too," she whispered back. As she turned to move back to the door to let her outside, she turned again quickly, "Sam," she whispered, catching him before he reached the door to the hall, watching as he turned back towards her, "Always."

A/N: Thank you to everyone reading and especially the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. This story is nearing it's end, but the sequel is in the works. If you enjoyed, please review. Thanks.


	46. Chapter 46

Grateful for the portable radios that Sam had gotten out of the Impala, once she'd made it to the cover of the woods, she checked hers again to make sure that it was as low as it could possibly be to make sure a message from Sam didn't give her location away. Once sure that she was safe, she began making her way around the woods, doing her best to be both fast and quiet, almost cursing herself as she stepped on a small branch, it cracking under her boot. She waited a full two minutes as she made sure that no one had been alerted by the sound, then continued her trek through the woods. As she neared the small clearing by the altar, she stopped to listen to the voices, hoping to pick up some kind of idea where her sister and Dean were.

"Two minutes," she heard one of the watchers stress. "Where is she? I told you idiots that we needed to go ahead and grab her. Apparently none of you know how to do anything." Stevie was quite sure that was Mrs. Cannon, but the tone of her voice was much harsher than she'd heard before so she couldn't be certain.

"The prophecy says that she will come of her own free will, that is how it must be done," a man stated, standing up to the woman she'd heard. "We have the one now, we just have to wait for her to show herself."

"Well, your little plan to bring her here isn't working, is it?" She hissed, making Stevie wonder how she could have ever been an angel, but understanding how she could have gotten kicked out of Heaven. But her heart was breaking as she realized that they had gotten Sam, and now she was their only hope, and she still had no idea how to set them free. She wished now that she could use the crossbow like Maria did, she'd never really appreciated the silent weapon that could take out the enemy from a distance until this minute. If only she had more accuracy with it, she'd have a better shot, because as soon as she fired her Colt the first time, she knew that they'd all be on her in an instant.

"I say we bring them out here and threaten to kill them," Stevie heard another woman's voice say. "If she doesn't come, we've missed this time anyway, we should just be done with them all."

Stevie was about to move forward when an arm came around and covered her mouth, the other holding her as tightly as possible to prevent her from moving. She tried to kick back, but found that she couldn't move. The assailants head moved closer to her, whispering in her ear, "Look, I'm going to let you go now, but do not scream."

Stevie turned around, her eyes wide as she looked at Dean. "What? How? Maria?" She knew they had caught Sam, but she had no idea how Dean had gotten free or where Maria was.

Dean shook his head, "I haven't seen Maria since they tasered us by the vending machines then took us to what looked like some hunting cabin. I went to one room, Maria another." He shook his head, still able to feel the remnants of how the taser had sent him crashing to the sidewalk. "I will tell you that they were treating Maria fairly good for some reason."

"After they fucking tasered her," Stevie whispered angrily. "I will kill them. I will go up in that bitch and kill them all."

Dean grabbed her arms, trying to calm her as he whispered, "I don't know where she is. We can't do anything until we know where she is. Do you understand?"

Stevie took a breath and nodded just as she heard rustling close to their location, then an out of breath male voice. "We lost one, he managed to escape while we were subduing the other. It's time, we have to try this now. Otherwise we should just get rid of them altogether."

The woman, the one that Stevie presumed was Mrs. Cannon was seething, and it came out in her voice. "Bring the girl, if that doesn't get her here, nothing will. And she can hide while her sister dies," she demanded.

Stevie went to move forward, but Dean pulled her back, whispering into her ear, "They know you're out here, they are goading you to show yourself, you can't."

She was shaking as he held her back, her anger coursing through her like never before, not only had these people hurt her sister, but they'd dared to kill her as well, and if she had thought that she was filled with rage at that, it was nothing until she heard Maria's voice.

"I hope you realize that I will get out of this, and I will fuck you up. All this shit you've done to my sister, that's it. And you fucking tasered me, assholes," Maria hissed as she was drug to the altar kicking and screaming.

Though she shouldn't have, Stevie moved a little closer to the small clearing to actually get a look at her sister, having to catch her gasp so as not to give herself away. They'd placed Maria on top of the altar, being held down by four men with Mrs. Cannon standing at the head of the stone slab with the real goblet and dagger. Stevie knew that Dean wouldn't just let her walk away, so she called out instead, "Hey, wait! Don't! I'm here!" Dean cursed as he heard them coming towards them, shaking his head and slipping back through the shadows, now the only person free to try and save them.


	47. Chapter 47

Stevie dropped the crossbow, but stashed her Colt in the back of her pants, pulling her jacket over to conceal it. Looking over her shoulder briefly, back where Dean had disappeared, she then turned and walked into the clearing, swallowing hard as she wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this now. Her only hope was that somehow Sam could get free and prevent them from completing the ritual, she was going to have to rely on Dean for that now.

"Stevie, what the hell are you doing? Run! I can take these bitches," Maria yelled at her, struggling against the men who held her down.

Stevie was immediately grabbed on both sides, pushed to the altar, Maria being moved to make room for her, "I couldn't let them hurt you," she spoke, "I can handle this, but I could never handle them hurting you." She looked around at their abductors, her eyes blazing as they had yet to free Maria. "I surrendered to you, now let my sister go!"

Mrs. Cannon approached Stevie, running her hand over her hair in a move that should have been comforting, but only served to anger Stevie even more, "Now Stephanie Ann, I know you've been trying so hard to fight your destiny, but just as you have a purpose to serve, so does your sister."

Stevie began to struggle against her captors, fighting as hard as she possibly could, giving it everything she had, even managing to kick one off before another took his place, "You fucking bitch! You better let my sister go or I will not do or say or whatever your psychotic little mind thinks I should do. Let her go, or I swear you will regret this."

"Sweetheart," the man she'd heard earlier smirked, "Once we get started there is nothing you can do to stop it. None of you can." He turned to several men standing at the edge of the clearing, "Go get the other one so we can start, "we don't need him making any problems while we make the Earth a better place."

"A better place?" Maria grimaced, "The only way the Earth will be a better place would be for us to kill all of you. And guess what, it's about to happen."

Several of the watchers chuckled at Maria while Stevie was able to grasp hold of her hand, whispering, "I'm so sorry, Mare. I'm supposed to look out for you, not get us both sacrificed."

Maria rolled her eyes though she squeezed her sister's hand tight, "Because you just set this all in motion, 'Vie." She took a breath and whispered once more, "Besides, haven't we been in spots worse than this? Surely Dumb and Dumber will be able to come up with something."

Stevie held her breath while she hoped and prayed that Maria was right, "They've got Sam, but Dean is out there, somewhere. If we somehow get out of this, your crossbow is about 5 feet back from where I came into the clearing."

Maria growled slightly, still holding Stevie's hand, "You dropped my crossbow? Why didn't you fucking shoot these sons of bitches?"

Stevie was about to answer when a piece of cloth was tied around her mouth to prevent her from doing so, and from what she could tell, Maria was done the same way. Outside of her line of view, Stevie heard someone walk up, gathering everyone's attention, including Mrs. Cannon who actually sounded happy for once. "Great," she exclaimed, "get them prepared, I'm going to go see what is taking so long to get the other one out here."

Stevie fought hard against the gag, but it was no use as both her arms and legs were well held down, though she still did manage to keep a hold of Maria's hand. At the end of the altar where her feet rested, Stevie watched as three girls moved up, the way they were dressed, the way they moved, she could only describe them as some sort of maidens. But when the one in the middle took out a large pair of shears after having taken Maria's shoes off, Stevie could feel the fear in both her and Maria as it welled up. She shook her head, not exactly sure what was about to happen, but knowing that it wasn't something she would like. When the young girl slipped the shears between her fingers and began to cut up Maria's pants leg, she felt her sister go crazy, wild with survival instinct.

"Shh," the young girl said softly, "I won't hurt you, but it you keep struggling, the shears may nip you and I wouldn't like that at all." Stevie's eyes were wide as the girl cut up one leg and then the other ultimately stripping Maria of her jeans. The same was then done to her jacket and shirt, leaving Maria in nothing but her bra and underwear. Maria was then forced to sit up, all the while struggling, while they dressed her in some flowing white gown that Stevie wasn't sure was more like an old nightshirt or a very plain wedding dress.

Once Maria was outfitted in the dress, some weird sparkling headgear, and a gold bracelet on one hand and an onyx on the other, the girl turned to Stevie with a soft, sweet smile, "Your turn."

Stevie's instinct was the fight it, to try and force some type of a chance for escape, but her mind told her to wait it out, that somehow they would make it through this, though she had absolutely no idea how. Relying on the faith that she had in the Winchesters to help them make it through this, she did not struggle, but instead she used the time that they felt she was being docile to search for any possible weakness in their security of both her and Maria, hoping to get a hand to her gun before they did. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and it was tossed aside as if it were a mere toy.

Once they were done, Stevie and Maria were sat up, their gags removed, Maria immediately hissing, "What the hell is this? Where is Sam?"

Stevie shook her head, "I have no idea, but we're almost dressed identical."

Maria looked down at herself, then at her sister, everything was the same except the bracelets they wore. Maria had the gold one on her right arm, whereas Stevie's was on her left. Maria looked up at her sister, frustration in her voice, "This doesn't look good."

A/N: Thank you to my readers and followers. I truly appreciate your reviews. Nearing the end now, only a few chapters to go. Let me know what you think.


	48. Chapter 48

Dean cut back around the woods, mentally cursing Stevie all the way, not that he wouldn't do the same thing to save his brother, but that doesn't mean it was the right move, if anyone had learned that over time it was him and Sam. Now he had to find a way to get to Sam so he could stop this, and if it didn't happen fast, he didn't know if either Stevie or Maria would even survive, and he'd made a promise, and he didn't like to break promises. Not if he could help it.

He slipped back into the church the way Stevie had left it just a few minutes before, making his way through the chapel and into the hall as quickly as he possibly could. He couldn't really worry about being quiet now, he no longer had the luxury of time being on his side. Any minute now Stevie and Sam were going to be offered up to who knows what for something's attempt at the ultimate power.

When he reached the hall with the room where he'd had to rescue Stevie, he saw a man standing outside it as if he were standing guard, leaving him pretty sure that was where they had Sam, since that was where they had held him earlier. A thought ran through his mind as he thought back to how the room had affected Stevie, and now he wondered if it had done the same thing to Sam. Stevie was a whole hell of a lot easier to carry out of there than Sam would be, and he had absolutely no time to waste.

He waited for just a moment, holding his breath even, as he thought about what move he should make, when luck finally struck on their side and the man was called away from the door. He wasn't going to give it a chance to change its mind as he hurried into the room to find Sam fully coherent though gagged and bound to a chair. Making quick work with his knife, Dean cut the ropes at Sam's arms moving to his feet while Sam pulled the gag from his mouth.

"Stevie? Maria?" Sam asked, more emotion in the two words than Dean would have imagined, though he shook his head once he was positive that Sam hadn't been affected by the room, motioning for him to quietly but quickly follow him down the hall and around toward the chapel. Once they were in the chapel, Dean explained to Sam how Stevie had given herself up to save Maria, Sam's face going white, knowing that there was no time to spare.

"That room," Dean said, "It didn't affect you."

Sam shook his head, "It didn't bother me at all. I don't know what was supposed to happen, but whatever it was, nothing happened." His heart was pounding, worrying about what was happening to the girls as they stood there. "We gotta go, Dean. We will save them, I can't let anything happen to her," Sam almost whispered, then added, "I just can't."

Dean nodded, knowing that once they left that chapel it would be on, the Winchesters against the world once more, but it wasn't the first time he put his life on the line and he was quite certain that it wouldn't be the last. "Just be careful, Sammy," was all Dean said as they headed for the door. As much as these girls had come into their lives and turned them upside down, he knew that they were better for having met them. But he wasn't about to lose his brother because of it.

"Dean," Castiel's voice rang out into the chapel, the high ceiling making it almost echo. Both boys turned around to see their friend looking a little worse for wear. Before Sam could even utter the words to ask if there was any way to stop all of this, he shook his head. "We still don't know how or why, but we know if the four of you are together, they can not finish the ceremony. You have to get to the girls and keep them grounded, if you can do that, the ceremony will stop. We don't know for how long, minutes, hours, days, years... no one knows. You simply must go ground the girls."

"Ground them?" Dean asked, his face a mask of confusion once more. "What the hell are you talking about, Cas?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Are they going to be struck by lightning?"

"Dean," Sam huffed, "We don't have time." He already had his hand on the door, he had no intentions of standing there having a conversation with Castiel and Dean when the girls' lives were in danger.

"Sam is right, Dean," Castiel nodded, "you must go now. There's no time." He watched as Dean gave him one last glance, almost a question of why wasn't he helping them, but he didn't voice it and Castiel was glad, because the truth was, he truly didn't have an answer other than he just felt he wasn't supposed to be there.

He stepped out of the door the boys had just went through and turned toward the clearing just catching sight of Sam and Dean as they entered the woods, weapons drawn just as the sky brightened to an almost blinding light, but he didn't turn away. Regardless of the end, he was going to see it through.


	49. Chapter 49

Mrs. Cannon, angry that they'd somehow lost Sam in all of the commotion of the night, all but ran to the clearing, her voice more of a hiss, "Now, get it started now!" She moved to the front of the altar, taking the dagger and the challis in her hands as she held them up to the sky, speaking words that Stevie nor Maria understood. The clearing became bright, bathed in an unnatural light, as the girls slowly began to rise from the altar, seemingly suspended in slow animation, their bodies moving without thought. Mrs. Cannon moved forward, taking the dagger and running it across the palms of both girls taking first the blood of Stevie's right hand, then Maria's left, then moving the challis below their two palms that slowly moved together, their blood mixing as it dripped into the sacred cup.

Neither Stevie nor Maria could speak, their eyes glazed over as they were no longer on this plane of existence, nor were they awake on any other, their spirits seeming to float through portals of time and energy without their knowledge or recollection. They could not feel the blood that dripped from their hands, nor could they feel when their hands clamped together, joining them in a union that they hadn't considered, sure that the ultimate goal had been Stevie and Sam, though it was apparent that Sam Winchester hadn't been needed for this ritual.

All around the clearing a building rumble could be heard as Mrs. Cannon continued her monologue, words unknown to man, as the girls continued to slowly rise into the air, their feet now just barely touching the top of the altar, their heads back and a bright light shining from their eyes. The others formed a circle around the altar and began to chant in a low monotone, the earth around them seeming to tremble with power as the chanting gained momentum. No one in the clearing had any idea that the Winchesters were just beyond and had every intention of throwing one serious roadblock in the way.

Sam and Dean came to abrupt stop as they reached the clearing, the dark of the night around them having disappeared as the bright white light was being met by a bright red one that seemed to come up from the ground. They could hear the chanting, as well as the words Mrs. Cannon was speaking though the brightness of the light surrounding them made it hard to see as they tried to move forward. "It sounds as if she's speaking Enochian," Sam said as he tried to shade his eyes from the light, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

Dean nodded, though not to what Sam had said, but more toward the chanting, "I don't know what it's called, but the words they are chanting is some kind of ritual to bring Hell to earth. What in the hell are they doing?"

Sam took a second and looked at Dean, "The chanting is bringing Hell to Earth, and the Enochian is bringing Heaven to Earth." Still trying to shade his eyes as he looked at his brother, it was if a light bulb had gone off, moving into the clearing as he called out to his brother. "They're using them to bridge the gap between Heaven and Hell! We've got to stop it. Castiel said we had to ground them."

As they pushed through the outer circle they could see the girls floating above the altar, the blood dripping from their hands, Dean sighed, "Ground them? Who knew he meant literally?" He called out to Sam, "You get Stevie, I got Maria." He reached up and grabbed Maria's hand, though it seemed to make no difference and he was unable to pull her down. It also nagged at him that no one was trying to stop them. If this was so important, why weren't they trying to stop them. "Nothing's happening, Sam!"

Sam had moved through the crowd of chanters, grasping Stevie's hand in his own as he tried to pull her down. He could feel the pulse of her heartbeat in his hand, but nothing more. He knew that she was in there, he could feel their connection, but something was still missing, there was no reaction to their touch and no one was making any move to stop them. Were they too late, he wondered as a thought struck him at the feel of the slickness of her palm against his from her blood. "Cut your palm, Dean," Sam yelled over to his brother as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, opening it and quickly pulling the blade against his skin, a trail of blood following. Again he grabbed her hand with his own, their blood fusing as it felt like a jolt of lightning ran through him, it taking everything he had to hold on.

"Stop them!" Mrs. Cannon hissed quickly in between her chants, her words becoming faster as Dean figured out what Sam meant and cut his hand just as his brother had done, getting the same reaction from touching Maria that Sam had gotten when he'd touched Stevie.

When the four connected there was a sound very much like that of a sonic boom, the lights all going out, the girls crashing to the altar, their bodies a crumpled mess as Sam and Dean struggled to hold onto them, to keep them safe. There was chaos all around them as the boys managed to separate the girls, Sam pulling Stevie into his arms as Dean did the same with Maria. He was whispering to her, trying to bring her back, when he heard Mrs. Cannon's screech coming from behind him. "What have you done? What have you done! You've ruined it, you've ruined everything! How could you?" she wailed as all at once it appeared as though the clearing was emptied, everyone gone except for one angel and two sets of siblings.


	50. Chapter 50

"Maria," Stevie groaned as she began to come to, her head pounding and her hand throbbing with pain. Sam was holding her in his arms, that much she knew, but she couldn't seem to sense Maria which only made the pain sting even more so in her heart. But she was soon soothed by Sam's whispered promises that her sister was okay, that indeed they'd all managed to make it out alive.

Sam glanced at Dean who was also assuring Maria that Stevie had made it through the ordeal as they were joined in the clearing by Castiel who still wore a rather perplexed expression on his face despite the fact that they had stopped the impending doom. While he was still helping Stevie to come out of the haze that clouded her mind, he gave an inquisitive look to Castiel who quickly snapped out of his own thoughts, healing the girls and clearing their minds with practiced ease.

"Thanks," Stevie said softly as she moved over to Maria, pulling her sister in tight for a hug. She held onto her, Maria's arms just as tight around her, the two simply grateful that they'd made it through the night. It was Maria that first pulled back, her eyes full of confusion as they fell on the angel. "But I thought it was supposed to be Stevie and Sam? That's what all the attraction was about, right?"

Glances shifted between Stevie and Sam only to land back on Castiel, everyone wanting answers. "How do you feel now?" Castiel asked, his expression giving nothing away. Sam and Stevie looked at each other, each questioning the other with their eyes and immediately knowing the truth, nothing had really changed.

"So it's not over?" Dean asked, confused.

Castiel shook his head, "Whatever happened here is over. I can feel that. Whatever energy was here has gone." When Maria added her own question about Stevie and Sam, a little frustrated that the two themselves didn't seem to be questioning it, Castiel explained it simply. "Sam and Stevie are soulmates."

"Wait, what?" Sam asked, though in truth he wasn't at all surprised. "How?" he asked, Stevie's voice echoing his own only to add, "Did you know that from the beginning?"

Castiel nodded, having always known it. Holding up his hand asking for a chance to explain as he watched the expressions of the four in front of him. "Soulmates are supposed to find themselves on their own, with no help from outside sources, especially angels, myself included," he told them, quickly going on to answer Maria's next question. "It's a myth that we're supposed to help them find each other. Outside interference can have drastic consequences."

"Such as?" Sam asked, feeling slightly vindicated if not overwhelmed at the knowledge that he had truly found his soul mate.

"Well," Castiel began, only to be cut off by Maria, who suddenly got it. "They act like idiots that can't stand to be away from each other?"

Castiel looked at Maria, "I was going to say it nicer."

Stevie who'd been quiet during the whole exchange simply shook her head. "But this doesn't make sense. Union. Why would they bring us here, encourage Sam and Dean to basically stay by their actions, if they only needed Maria and I?"

Castiel shrugged, for this was one answer he didn't have. He had no real answers as to why anything that had happened in Union, in this clearing, had happened, and was only grateful that everyone had been able to walk away from it. He watched as Sam made his way over to Stevie, pulling her to him without protest except for the eye rolling of their siblings. "So it looks like it's real," he said as he held her close.

"It does so, indeed." She said as she grinned up at him. "I don't know about you, but I think we deserve a night or two off. What do you say we get out of this place?"

Sam kissed her quickly, leaning his forehead against hers. "You and Maria follow us back to Kansas?"

She nodded, "Though with Maria's lead foot we'll probably beat you there."

Sam grinned, "Obviously you've still got a lot to learn about my brother."

"That did not go according to plan," he grumbled. "Not at all."

She shook her head, "That couldn't have turned out any better if we'd tried."

"Now what?"

"We wait."

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and left reviews. I really appreciate it and I hope you have enjoyed this fic. I plan on starting the sequel soon. Please let me know what you thought!


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